PetitHaus: Innovative housing solution that helps low/medium income earners access affordable, highly efficient qualitative living with convenience and unparalleled cost effectiveness.
Why is PetitHaus NOT a FinTech solution? Because real challenges of homeownership in Nigeria go beyond ‘financial inclusion’ to the real issues of affordability, title ownership, and community-building. Discover how PetitHaus is redefining housing for Nigerians with a people-first approach, beyond just financial inclusion.
With the possibilities that Tech. and tech-enabled innovations have blessed us with, it might seem obvious to build everything as a fintech product, especially in real estate, where financial access plays a major role. Yet, at PetitHaus, we made a conscious decision to take a different route. Instead of focusing on making housing just another digital financial transaction, we wanted to redefine how Nigerians, especially the middle and lower-income earners, approach homeownership.
Don't get me wrong, digital financial solutions are perfect for investment schemes, whether it's through innovative mortgages, fractional ownership, or rent-to-own schemes. What they do not address are the deeper challenges of housing like the complexities of ownership/title, responsiveness to budget and taste.
To put it briefly, what they offer is a transactional solution, and the problem with this is that it over-simplifies the problem, treating the problem as an isolated silo. Whereas like a Sudoku game that can not be solved by separating the grid into isolated squares, what we need to solve Nigeria’s interconnected housing crisis, is a holistic “full-grid” solution that’s beyond ‘just’ transactions.
A ‘human’ solution built around people’s lives, their identity, and their future. One that's about sustainability, inclusivity, and community.
Understanding the Nature of Housing Challenges: Fintech Solutions vs. Real Estate Realities
Considering today’s realities, how can we honestly say that investing N20,000 monthly, every year is enough to own property/home in Nigeria?
Fintech as a tool for or within real estate makes a great combination, however, fintech as real estate products typically focuses on the financing “silo”. Thanks to them, it has become easier to access loans, enjoy access to high-value property (fractional) investments, and even simplify/manage digital transactions.
Despite these, they barely scratch the surface of the real issues, the fragmented property markets, the volatile economic environment, the high cost of land acquisition/construction, the disconnect between individuals and their communities, the role of professionals/agencies and other affordability barriers to homeownership. The issue of housing affordability and accessibility is much more than ‘financial inclusion’.
It is commendable that fintech-based solutions have enabled improved and convenient access to simple real estate solutions. However, the reality of saving/investing in a ‘non-existent’ future home, for years even, in a highly volatile economy begs that we ask ourselves:
“Is our product HONESTLY in the interest of the user?”
“Can our product TRULY help the user achieve their goals or do we just need the cash flow?”
Even though fintech solutions can streamline certain processes, they often miss out on the bigger picture: the fact that housing isn’t just a commodity. When we consider that there are more people whose goal is to simply have a roof over their head, than those whose goal is to make money, how true or feasible is the promise some fintech solutions offer for real estate?
PetitHaus' Unique Approach: Building Communities, Not Just Houses
When people have their own titles, they will become more creative in providing their own housing according to their budget. -the PetitHaus Land/Title ownership thesis.
PetitHaus was born out of the vision of addressing real housing problems. We saw the need to create a housing system that worked for people, and not just their wallets. Our mission is to create sustainable, community-centred housing solutions for Nigerians.
Among multiple strategies, we promote the co-ownership model that reduces land acquisition barriers and simplifies the homebuilding process for middle and low-income individuals. A ‘tech-enabled’ approach which at its core, is about people; helping them find security, build equity, and thrive in communities that are designed with their well-being in mind.
This model offers shared ownership and affordable homebuilding through collaboration. By empowering people to co-own land, they can acquire land while reducing the hefty (upfront) costs of buying Land. A community-focused approach that helps to reduce costs, increase trust, and encourage responsible ownership.
Helping them build bespoke low-cost housing according to budget.
The Sudoku Grid: Solving the Real Challenges.
The biggest challenge of housing isn't financing. If it were, we would all live in condos and villas. The main issue is making sure that homes are affordable, sustainable, and inclusive. Housing in Nigeria has often been seen as a luxury, out of reach for many, but there has to be better solutions.
So, the housing issue transcends beyond financing into systemic failures, government inefficiencies, economic instability/imbalance, lack of trust (especially in professionals), restrictive policies and corruption-induced bureaucracies. All these connect and are exacerbated by the desire to “arrive”.
This is why in order to solve the housing crisis, we must, for the short term, prioritize affordable, sustainable and inclusive solutions while advocating for a 360-degree overhaul of systemic and foundational issues for long-term impact. This is why we must collectively advocate for a review of government policies that directly and indirectly affect housing and the provision of affordable housing.
This is the Sudoku approach to solving housing.
Technology As The Major Influencer
Though we didn’t take the fintech route, we still recognize the immense value of technology in driving efficiency and transparency. We leverage tech to streamline the co-ownership process. From bringing people with common interests together, to seamless documentation, to managing land title verification, and streamlining the design-build process. All to ensure that housing is more accessible and reliable.
Conclusion
For us, PetitHaus is about empowering people, fostering communities, and creating a sustainable future for Nigerians. Our mission is to redefine homeownership as more affordable, inclusive, and community-centered. We’re laying the groundwork for a more stable and prosperous Nigeria.
Affordable housing isn’t just about access to loans or managing payments; it’s about creating a system where everyone can find their place and call it home. And that’s the future we’re building at PetitHaus—one home, one community at a time.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.