The Lagos State Government yesterday disclosed plan to adopt a new housing policy aimed at making housing more affordable and bringing more residents into the home ladder.
Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, disclosed this in Alausa, Ikeja, during year 2020 ministerial briefing on the activities of the government in the housing sector to mark Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s first year in office.
Under the new policy, efforts would be made to bring down the cost of mortgage finance to single-digit from the current double-digit of finance cost.
According to him, the state is exploring possibility of talking with internal stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, to see how technology could be integrated into planning process to ensure safer and cheaper construction.
Akinderu-Fatai pointed that the current housing policy on homes’ accessibility is targeted at first-time owners who are residents of the state, and who could come on a convenient mortgage system or make outright purchase of the homes.
He also stressed that the Sanwo-Olu-led administration had strengthened its policy of delivering homes to Lagosians through a convenient mortgage system tagged Rent-To-Own.
The commissioner said that to broaden the scope, the state had adopted an initial payment of five per cent of the homes and 33.5 per cent of the monthly salaries payment spread over 10 years so that more Lagosians can become home-owners without experiencing serious financial hardship.
Akinderu-Fatai, therefore, urged more serious-minded investors to join hands with government for speedy resolution of the housing deficit challenge in the state.
He also disclosed that more schemes would be completed before the first quarter of 2021 to yield an additional 2,284 home units. Also speaking at the event, the Special Adviser to Governor on Housing, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, lauded the administration of Sanwo-Olu for activating the law that established Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA).
She said that the new agency engaged in investigation of complaints and petitions against licensed and unlicensed real estate practitioners /property developers and imposed sanctions in accordance with the law where necessary during the period under review.
