With additional 216 units added to the existing housing stock in Lagos, the state government and its development partners have thrown up the opportunity for more people to acquire decent homes.
Lagos, arguably Nigeria’s most populous state with an estimated 22 million people, is said to be in housing deficit of over three million. In many areas of the urban city state, millions of residents are cramped in slum homes due to the lack of accommodation. In some other areas of the state with decent homes, rents are prohibitive as private developers continue to cite high cost of land acquisition and building materials as justification.
As a result, many who reside in such areas are relocating to remote parts of the state where rents are relatively affordable, but they face the challenge of commuting, as efficient public transportation system is lacking.
The state government, however, believes that continuing increase of the housing stock would gradually defray the over three million deficit and enable more people access decent homes.
At the inauguration of 84 housing units Lekki Phase II, and the Iponri LagosHOMS renamed Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRFHOMS), comprising 132 units, on Wednesday, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said it was aimed at reducing the housing deficit in the state. The inaugurated housing projects comprise of one, two and three-bedroom flats.
Sanwo-Olu said the projects have been delivered in the conviction that housing was one of the basic needs of humans and a critical factor that determines quality of life. According to him, the administration´s goal is to ensure that people live in well planned communities, as obtainable in advanced cities around the world.
Sanwo-Olu said a lot of efforts over the months have gone into completing many of the housing schemes inherited from the past administration. He said while some of these projects were funded through budgetary allocations, others were being financed through joint venture arrangement with development partners.
“The LagosHoms Lekki Phase II we are here to witness the commissioning is a product of a joint venture arrangement between the State government and STB Mortgage Bankers/Lekki Ultimate Company limited.
“This marks another successful collaborative effort geared toward bridging the housing deficit in the state. The delivery of this housing project is a direct result of our faith in the capacity of our private sector to play a collaborative role in housing development,” he said.
He added that apart from the Lekki Phase II with 84 homes, the state has been able to harvest over 244 housing units through Joint Ventures schemes at Courtland Luxury Villa, Igbokushu and Lekki Apartments, Lekki (Phase one) in 2020.
“A few days ago, 252 two-bedroom terraced bungalows, a joint venture with Echostone Development, were commissioned at Idale Badagry,” he added, while assuring local and foreign investors of government´s resolve to provide unencumbered land for housing development on the basis of mutually agreed terms in the areas of specification of houses to be delivered and duration.
