The biggest social housing scheme in Nigeria, Family Homes Funds has kick-started a plan to bring succor to civil servants and low income earners in Niger state after completing a N1.8 billion agreement to build up to 1,200 affordable houses with the state government.
According to Mr Femi Adewole, Managing Director of Family Homes Funds, providing these 1,200 housing units would absolutely change the lives of the low to medium income citizens who are going to benefit from the project.
He revealed that the project would create 6,000 jobs for women and youths through indirect linkages, while assuring that the company would work assiduously to disburse funds for the immediate take-off of the project.
Mr Adewole appealed to the state government to ensure that the basic infrastructures necessary for the provision of quality houses are put in place to compliment the efforts of Family Homes Funds.
“Family Home Funds is financing the project to provide quality homes and the state government is to repay the loan between the period of seven to eight years,’’ he said.
This project is just one of the many being financed by the scheme all over the country. At the moment, Adewole revealed that the company was working with at least nine state governments to build 14,000 homes altogether.
The Fund has kept to its principle of establishment as a pro-poor housing finance institution in Nigeria, geared towards making the dream of owning a home by low income earners come true.
From Borno to Kaduna, Delta and many more, Family Homes Funds is working hard to increase the provision of affordable housing in Nigeria by utilizing local products which in turn stimulates the economy.
Family Homes Funds is not only financing houses for the poor, but creating hundreds of jobs and bringing much needed support to families who need it most.
In Delta state for example, one can call to mind an unbelievable testimony from a blind man who got a house through the Fund when all hopes were clearly lost for him and his family.
The Fund has demonstrated that it is possible for an institution to deliver results in Nigeria, in spite of the daunting challenges that often cripple such efforts. According to Adewole, their success can be attributed to their clarity of purpose and the assembling of a team of very motivated professionals.
For the governor of Niger state, Abubakar Bello of Niger, the project was part of the state government’s efforts to provide quality and affordable houses for the people.
Bello lamented about the poor condition of the existing four estates that were built by previous administrations.
However, he expressed his hope for a better result from Family Homes Funds.
“We have had bad experiences when it comes to estates, especially with four of our estates – M.I. Wushishi and Talba estates in Minna, Sani Bello, and Aliyu Makama housing estates in Kontagora and Bida. This is as a result of bad structuring and MoU.
“I hope the contract will be clear and the contractors will abide by the agreement and that both parties will take the matter seriously to ensure the houses are built in accordance with structure and terms,’’ the governor said.
On his part, he assured Family Homes Funds of full government support in executing the project in order to provide decent and affordable houses for the people.
Also, Malam Ahmed Abdullah, General Manager of the Niger State Housing Cooperation said that 70 percent beneficiaries of the houses would be civil servants while 30 percent would be the general public.
Under the first phase, he said that 300 units of two bedrooms flats would be built and 100 units of three bedrooms under the second phase. He added that the houses would be located along Kaduna-Abuja road.
To achieve their ambition of building up to 500,000 houses by 2023, Family Homes Funds is collaborating with a number of local bodies to develop the most cost effective technologies for building affordable but high quality houses for the poor.
The Fund stands out at the moment as one of the most influential institutions chasing the goal of drastically reducing the housing deficit in Nigeria, and Niger state is only the latest of states to benefit.
