Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has said his administration will boost the existing state housing scheme with 3,004 units of low income housing by December.
Meanwhile, expert and stakeholders have stressed the need for governments at all levels to provide affordable housing for the masses in view of the increasing population in Lagos State.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Monday, at Alausa, Ikeja, while addressing stakeholders and participants at an occasion to mark the World Habitat Day, with the theme: “Housing for all; A better urban future.”
The governor, who spoke through his deputy, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, declared his commitment towards making befitting accommodation available to residents through pragmatic models that would incorporate private sector partnership, encourage local contents and cut costs while also creating employment.
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He said: “The thrust of this year’s celebration is a major policy objective of the fourth pillar of our administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda that is Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy.
“The current and projected future population of our state presents huge opportunities for investors in the housing sector and a compelling need for urban renewal.”
To accelerate the realisation of the objective, Sanwo-Olu stated that his administration had returned the state to the National Housing Fund and appointed the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc as the sole mortgage provider to facilitate a reduction in the housing deficit in the state.
The governor declared that the total housing stock in the state by the end of this year, would have increased by 3004 units with the completion and delivery of additional seven housing schemes, comprising 2,268 units as the government had completed and commissioned within the last 16 months.
A number of housing schemes include: Lateef Kayode Housing Estate, Igando; Courtland Villas, Lekki, and Lekki Apartments, Ikate Elegushi.
He added that the state was committed to the full implementation of the rent-to-own policy, aimed at achieving the objective of making housing affordable and accessible to low-income residents, under which 1,303 beneficiaries had become homeowners in Oba Adeboruwa, Lateef Jakande and Epe Housing schemes.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, said the state government had a clear understanding and remarkable acceptance of the multidimensional and complex nature of housing and was matching up to its successful delivery in cost-efficient, pragmatic and innovative manner.
The guest speaker, Dr. Tunde Reis, a retired Brigadier-General, urged the government to segment end-users, incorporate the informal sector of the economy in planning, enact the enabling regulations and policies as well as encourage the affordability gap funding, in order to provide affordable housing.
He also called for partnerships with various institutions for the required data.
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