Citing his government’s desire to encourage low income Lagos
residents to own homes without much stress, the Lagos State Governor, Mr.
Babatunde Raji Fashola on Monday flagged off the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage
Scheme (LagosHOMS).
Mr. Fashola said LagosHOMS is part of his administration's
solution towards reducing the acute housing deficit in Lagos State. According
to Fashola, "the economic realities had made house ownership almost
impossible for most income earners". He went further to say, "for
many years, our people have had to acquire houses, often times being required
to pay cash once and for all, as if they were buying a shirt or a pair of shoes
in a shop. This approach in part, explains why a large number of ordinary
middle class and working people, cannot afford to acquire homes on the basis of
their legitimate income derived from hard work. In Lagos, we are of the view
that a home is not something you buy in one day, but over time in a way that
your ability to acquire is tied to your income and continued prosperity".
Mr. Fashola asserts that about 1,104 houses in various locations
of Lagos have been completed while about 3,156
other houses in places such as Iponrin, Ijora, Ilubinrin, Obele, Ajora Badagry,
Sangotedo Phase II, Oyingbo, Ibeshe Ikorodu were at various stages of
completion. A total of about 4,554 new
homes are in the works courtesy
of this Scheme. The Lagos State government also intends to buy off homes from
Private estate developers and channel same on the LagosHOMS Scheme for tenants
desiring to own their own homes.
The good thing is that 'man know man' will not decide who gets
these houses rather houses will be allocated to successful applicants via a
monthly draw. The mortgage arrangement will spread over 10 years; winners are
required to pay 30% of the cost of the property instantly and will be serviced
monthly with a 9.5% annual interest as against the prevailing 11-24% being
offered by private developers across Nigeria. Apartments under this Scheme
include one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments with prices
ranging between 3-30 million naira.
Requirements to take part or benefit from LagosHOMS entails that
an applicant must be resident in Lagos, show evidence of registration with the
Lagos State Registration Agency (LASRRA), present evidence of consistent tax
payment, must not have owned a property or benefited from any previous
government housing, and must live in the home allocated to him/her under the
scheme. That is to say that beneficiaries are not expected to just get the
house and rent it out, they are expected to reside therein. For more
information on this, please visit www.lagoshoms.gov.ng
By Don Okereke
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