Fashola Hands Over 362 Units Of One, Two Bedroom Flats in Lagos

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Tuesday formally handed over 362 units of one bedroom, one bedroom room and living areas and two bedroom apartments at the Odoragunshi Housing Estate in Ikorodu.

This will form the first in the series of houses that will go into the pool of houses that will be available for the public.

Speaking at the ceremony which took place at the Odoragunshi Housing Estate, Epe, which was renamed as Michael Otedola Housing Estate, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) stressed that the new houses would be available by mortgage or what people prefer to call rent to own.

Governor Fashola also stated that the details of how the new housing policy will work will be unfolded in the next few weeks when the Lagos Home Ownership Scheme would be formally launched.

The Governor recalled that during the last elections, he repeatedly gave assurances that if the people support the Action Congress of Nigeria with their votes and empowers the administration to form the government, it would be in a position to implement its housing programme that was already at a very advanced stage.

“Let me also restate what I have had cause to say in the past, that the problem of housing was not that of building alone, it was also a problem of sustainability. The problem manifested itself in various forms, such as the congestion in our ports which compounds the cost of imported components of building materials.

“It also manifested in the rate of foreign exchange which adds to cost of building, the absence of long term mortgages and funding, exacerbated by high interest rates which compel our citizens to desperate situations in order to raise money to pay for houses in one single payment; the reluctance of investors to invest in housing because of the difficulty of repossession when tenants default,” he stressed.

He reiterated that immediately after the elections, the State House of Assembly endorsed the multi-pronged solutions proffered by the State Government by promptly passing the new housing law which eliminated many of the difficulties that the old law inflicted on landlords who wanted to recover their premises from defaulting tenants.

Governor Fashola added that the new law also introduced many other innovative policies for the benefit of landlords and tenants alike; just as the government is already getting reports of its favourable implementation by landlords, tenants and estate surveyors and agents alike.

While also shedding light on Housing Arbitration Rules of the Lagos House Ownership Mortgage Scheme and Official Website of the scheme which he launched on Monday, Governor Fashola said the two policies and programmes show the character of the government as one that is methodical and has a plan.

He stressed that the Arbitration Rules will ease the problems of recovery of possession of houses acquired under mortgage and represents a critical incentive to bankers and financial institutions to attract them to finance mortgages which will be the critical driver of home ownership.

“I expect that legal advisers of banks and financial institutions will take time to familiarise themselves with the Arbitration Rules which can be obtained from the website, whose address is www.lagoshomsgov.org and advise their management on its benefits.

“Of course the website also demonstrate our responsiveness to change, adoption of current global best practices for communication and doing business in order to bring efficiency to the scheme,” he added.

He expressed gratitude to the former Commissioner for Housing for his service and commitment to the delivery of the scheme as well as the present Commissioner for his passion and sustenance of policies that have brought about the handover of the project.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Housing, Mr Bosun Jeje said with a total of 336 units, all internal roads within the estate are asphalted while the buildings are linked with interlocking paving stones walkways.

He added that in order to ensure that the less privileged could access decent accommodation, provision has been made deliberately for room and parlour and one bedroom units in the estate.

The colourful ceremony, which was spiced by cultural display, was witnessed by members of the State Executive Council, Chairmen of Local Government Councils, traditional rulers including the Alara of Ilara, Oba A.O Adesanya, former First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Doja Otedola and many other dignitaries.

The Governor later commissioned the estate which he renamed Sir Michael Otedola Housing Estate.