The Lagos State Government yesterday initiated a rent-to-own housing policy, which it said, would basically step down 30 per cent equity contribution largely for artisans, traders and non-salary earners in the state.
Also, the state government said the new policy would eventually lead to mortgage scheme, though it is designed to capture actors in the informal sector in Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS).
The state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), disclosed this at a town hall meeting on Lagos HOMS which he addressed at Lagos TV complex alongside the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje and his Commerce and Industry counterpart, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, among others.
The meeting was also attended by the President of Lagos State Council of Tradesmen and Artisans, Mr. Bola Sanusi, Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers, Mr. Tajudeen Agbede and President-General of Association of Market Men and Women of Nigeria, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, among others.
Speaking at the meeting, Fashola said the rent-to-own scheme would allow artisans and traders “to access Lagos HOMS. The artisans, tradesmen, non-salary earners and informal sector actors at large do not have to pay 30 percent down payment before they move into their apartments.”
He acknowledged that there “is a new policy. It is slightly different from the mortgage scheme itself. But it will ultimately lead to a mortgage scheme. It will open access to more people who cannot afford a mortgage.
“But we are still working on the new housing policy, when it is done, we will announce the commencement. It simply means that once they are qualified for the scheme, they will be allowed to move in under the rent-to-own scheme. The beneficiaries will be paying rents, which will eventually lead to mortgage.
“But in an instance where a beneficiary loses his job and cannot continue with the scheme after some years, such a person will get back all he has paid. Already, another person is waiting to buy the apartment.”
The housing commissioner provided insight into how the rent-to-own programme would work, noting that the state government “has not waved the 30 per cent housing equity contribution entirely.”
The commissioner also buttressed the governor’s standpoint, acknowledging that the state government's readiness to begin the new scheme.
He said: “By the time we announce the new programme, 30 percent equity contribution will have to be stepped down. It will be in form of when you pay your rent, it will be in form of contributing to the payment for the houses. We are going to announce the process that it is going to take.
“When we built those houses, we discovered that the houses are both for the formal and informal sectors. You will discover that only the formal sector can boast of salaries every month for the 30 percent equity contribution. So we looked at the informal sector and we said let us call the informal sector.
“All of us are paying taxes. We cannot all be collecting salaries. The informal sector must benefit from Lagos HOMS. They do not have a salaries. They do not have a structure that they can rely on. We have to call them and make an arrangement of how they will benefit from this scheme.”
The governor said there was an understanding between the state government and the informal sector in the state, while stating that the housing programme had not been compromised.
Five months after the launch of Lagos HOMS, the integrity of the programme “is solid, openness is assured, the sustainability is also steady. Every month, we promised to put a minimum of two hundred homes on the table.
“The next level is, of course, to multiply access into the scheme. As said at the launch of the scheme in March, there is nothing we have done than to cast a stone. We will continue to respond and react when we see the reality of how the project and programme is impacting on people’s lives.”
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