National Housing Programme: Outright subscribers get 8-week grace

The federal government of Nigeria, through the ministry of housing and urban development, has given eight-week grace to people who subscribed to pay outright for houses at the National Housing Programme (NHP), but are yet to complete their payment.

The ministry announced recently that it has started offers for provisional allocation of the first batch of houses to outright buyers from the housing programme.

This provisional allocation, according to ministry officials, marks a significant step forward in the government’s efforts to provide affordable housing to Nigerians.

The development was contained in a statement by Salisu Haiba, Director of Press & Public Relations for the housing ministry while Marcus Ogunbiyi, the permanent secretary of the ministry, provided further details at an address in his office in Abuja.

Ogunbiyi explained that these provisional allocation offers, which commenced in April 2024, follows a thorough review of the conditions and procedures for the sale of houses under the NHP. The review was officially communicated in a circular dated December 29, 2023.

Ogunbiyi reported that several outright payment subscribers have already completed their payments, while others have made deposits but are yet to finalize the process. He emphasized that subscribers included in the first batch have a 90-day window to complete their payments.

“To accommodate those who have not yet fulfilled their financial obligations, the ministry has granted an additional eight-week grace period,” the permanent secretary said.

“The ministry is informing all first batch outright subscribers who have yet to complete their payments for the houses offered to them that they now have an eight-week grace period to finalize all payments,” he stressed, and cautioned that “any subscriber who fails to complete payment within this extended period will have their offer revoked.”

This initiative is part of the federal government’s broader strategy to address housing deficits in the country by providing affordable homes to its citizens under the National Housing Programme.