Here are other reasons govt is involved in housing provision—Sanwo-Olu

After food, the next in the hierarchy of human needs is shelter, meaning that shelter is a basic need. But Lagos State government says its reason for getting involved in housing provision for its residents goes beyond this basic need.

Though the state government believes that humanity is well preserved and protected when a decent shelter is made available, it reasons that decent shelter provides the base upon which other socio-economic activities can be built.

“We promote a sense of togetherness that transcends our tribal, religious and political differences. This is our own answer to the need to build bridges and promote the emergence of new communities that are resilient and responsive to both communal and individual yearnings of their members,” Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor, said.

The governor noted that every economy, particularly the ones the state wishes to be at par with, is built by people, adding that thriving nations of the world are products of vibrant ideas from vibrant minds.

“So to get to where we are going, we have to continue to build decent homes in livable communities for people so that they can be psychologically and socially stable enough to contribute their quota to the development of the state,” he explained.

He said that, apart from fostering an enabling environment for family life and for raising future leaders, homes in decent and well planned communities help in reducing occurrences of security issues to the beast minimum.

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The governor who spoke at the inauguration of the 774-unit LagosHOMS housing estate in Sangotedo recently, noted that in an urban setting like Lagos, and given attendant challenges of uncontrolled immigration into the state, it behoves on government to intervene to give succour to the residents.

Leveraging his development policies anchored on the THEMES agenda, he explained further that government’s policy for achieving the Greater Lagos dream also recognizes the provision of decent homes placed under the pillar of making Lagos a 21st Century Economy . “This addresses our ultimate goal in housing development,” he stressed.

Beyond building houses, the state government also creates homes in livable communities and provide supporting infrastructure within these environments which, according to the governor, is meant to add value to the lives of the people.

The state government, he said, takes into cognisance of the joy that home ownership brings to people, pointing out that this is not peculiar to Nigerians alone as home ownership has always been a mark of great achievement among all people. “These considerations, among others, have made housing provision a critical part of our developmental efforts in the state,” the governor emphasized.

He noted that not everyone would be able to benefit from the state housing schemes which is why the government is deepening activities in the area of land allocation and speeding up the formalization procedures for land acquisition.

“We are going ahead with our plans for full excision on all untitled lands. This is to ensure orderliness and sanity in this important sector with the aim of tackling the problem of land grabbing in the state. The menace of land grabbing is a major turn off for both individuals and private sector real estate investors ,” he noted.

He assured that, in putting this plan into reality , all stakeholders would be carried along to enable the state government to have a formal and documented delineation on communal and family land.

“A technical committee will be inaugurated to smoothen the implementation of the excision process. It is our hope that at the end of the process, all untitled land will be covered by Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) for transparency in sales or transfer of landed assets,” the governor said.

He stressed that the state government was set for the enforcement of a monthly tenancy on property occupancy from 2022, confirming that the percentage of residents depending on tenancy arrangement for housing in the state was quite high.

“While building homes for those with home ownership dreams, we are also determined to cater for numerous others who may not have plans to own homes but have immediate needs for decent shelter The monthly tenancy is a pro- people plan to reduce financial pressure of yearly rent on tenants. The goal of this policy is to equate rental arrangements with mode of earning which is by and large monthly,” he said.

The governor revealed that they have talked through this policy and an agreement has been reached by representatives of tenants, financiers and the state government, appealing however that the initiative should not be a cause of discontent or alarm for land lords or real estate agencies. “Adequate legislative review is being done to ensure that rental default is reduced to the barest minimum,” he assured.