Fashola Delivers 10, 000 Houses in Eight Years
No fewer than 10, 000 houses have been constructed by the Fashola administration, in Lagos State, aimed at reducing housing deficit.
Meantime, the state government said 21 applicants of the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, Lagos HOMS, demanded refund of deposit paid for their homes.
Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, who disclosed this in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, while rendering the account of activities embarked upon by the ministry, said that 10, 000 represented the number of houses constructed since inception of the administration in 2007.
Jeje noted that the houses had been handed over to the residents of the state, through several strategies, saying “one of the strategies is the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, Lagos HOMS, draws.”
He explained that the monthly draw by the government had produced over 603 winners since the draw commenced a few months ago.
He however said the number of houses produced had not drastically reduced the state housing deficit, which the Federal Bureau of Statistics placed at one million housing units. “But the government has started the process of reducing it without considering the cost of housing in the country and the limited resources at the states disposal,” Jeje said.
The commissioner lamented that: “The government isn’t expected to be the constructor of houses; it is expected to create a conducive atmosphere that will allow private investors to thrive in the housing sector. In the absence of this, that was why the state government commenced the Lagos HOMS.
“After the private sector realised the effort of the state government, they have come to partner the state government. In respect of this, we have created the public private partnership (PPP) office to facilitate this,” Jeje added.
Explaining the reason for the refund of deposit, he said: “They demanded refund due to lack of documentation. And when the houses have been allocated to them (home owners), they couldn’t take it up because of documentation.”
He noted that one of the important requirements “was that they must provide five years’ tax clearance. And one income must show that he or she can pay for the houses he seeks to buy.”
