There are a variety of intervention programs that the federal government says it is committed to providing affordable housing for Nigerians
Mr. Fashola said this in Abuja while appearing on NAN Forum, the News Agency of Nigeria‘s flagship interview show
As a result, he says, the government is focusing not only on mass housing but also affordable housing for Nigerians, which can be paid for easily within a specified period.
In other words, it’s not just about how much a house costs, but also about how you’re asked to pay for it.
For example: “If I ask you to pay for an expensive house in one go, even if you earn a lot you may not be able to do it.”
When I tell you that you can pay for it over a period of ten years, it becomes more affordable. That’s what we’re working on,” he explained.
Housing, according to Fashola, should be delivered in partnership between the private sector and the government, with the latter supplying policy guidance
To help define what type of houses Nigerians want and what type of houses they will live in, we launched the National Housing Programme.”
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“This was inspired by the Shagari initiative of 1979. During the construction of the houses, there was a lot of uniformity, and some areas were not as successful as others.
This was successful in some places, but not in others due to cultural barriers, some of whom didn’t even live there.
A survey was conducted and the results led to the design of bungalows as well as the condomonium buildings we are currently building.
A little more than half of the units are still under construction, and we’ve already completed about 2,000 of them.
Many of our projects are at Phase 3, while others are at Phase 2, and still others are at Phase 1, with the road network and water supply still to be finished, but we will soon begin the public allocation process.”
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And yet, the National Housing Program is just a single intervention in a long list of others that doesn’t meet everyone’s needs.
In response, the minister said, “There are people who want to own their own land but do not want built houses.”
“The ministry is also building directly through its parastatal agencies,” Fashola said. “The federal housing authority has built more than 1,000 units.”
For example, the Federal Mortgage Bank has about 5000-6000 units in various stages of completion through its Estate Developer Finance Loan program.
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Our Cooperative Housing Initiative asks people to form cooperatives, buy their own land and design the homes according to what they need in terms of size and affordability.
Open a National Housing Fund account with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and we’ll finance 80 percent of the development costs and give you a mortgage,” he advised.
About 58 cooperatives across Nigeria applied for the last check, and we’re seeing even more.
That means it’s no longer just a Federal Government issue, but one that concerns the entire country.
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I sign Certificates of Occupancy every day, every week, so that people who have bought houses through the Federal Government’s monetisation program can own them,” he explains.
Ownership gives you the freedom to do anything with your land, and that’s what housing is all about.”
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In addition, Fashola explained that the consent to transfer your land is part of the housing intervention, so there are multiple facets to it.
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