The minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has called on Nigerians to leverage the opportunities granted by the federal government under the National housing program to own apartments in all parts of the country.
Noting that access to affordable houses has remained a challenge for the average Nigerian, Fashola, speaking during the launch of the portal in Abuja on Friday said that the housing programme which is being carried out in phases has over 5,000 houses completed in the first and second phases across 34 states and the FCT adding that Lagos state was yet to provide the government with land, while Rivers State will join-in in phase three of the project.
According to him, “As we know, we have houses scattered across the country that are not occupied. This is because people have a preference for different building styles, like in the North, the people there prefer bungalows, while the south prefers blocks of flats.
“So first, what we did was to carry out a survey to know what kind of houses Nigerians want to live in and that helped us to formulate relevant policies for the project. We currently have over 5,000 units at different stages of completion.”
Fashola disclosed that the houses which range from 1,2,3 semi-detached bungalows and 1-3 bedroom flats are to be sold from N7 million to N16.19 million each adding that payment can either be made through a mortgage or any financial system of preference.
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“The least selling price for each of these houses will be N7.222 million, and the highest will be N16.19 million. The highest is a 3 bedroom bungalow, it is not just the house but it also has land along with it. The bungalows are a little more expensive than the blocks of flats which do not have additional land.
“There are some slight price differences in the blocks of flats built in the riverine and swampy areas, for example, houses in Edo, Bayelsa.
“This is the first time we have a platform that every Nigerian has access to. This provides an opportunity for all Nigerians to apply and ensure a fair process of allocation. We will soon start the official handover and tape cutting as the subscribers come in. We have maintenance and facilities managers in all the estates.
“We introduced the online portal from which the national housing programme will be offered to members of the public. The forms are online and allow for more openness, limits human interventions, and hold us more accountable. The endgame is an economic objective.
He noted that the initiative which started with a survey in 2015, was also instrumental to the implementation of the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). “No international contractors were involved but 1,000 contractors from Nigeria. It also gave the contractors an opportunity to sustain their staff. Also, all materials for the project were locally made materials,” he said.
Fashola, therefore, urged Nigerians to register and apply for these houses online via nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng. The requirements for the application are a Passport photograph, current tax clearance payslip, letter of recommendation, means of identification, evidence of 10 percent initial deposit (for mortgage subscribers only).
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