19th September, 2011
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has aked the Federal Government to quickly review the Primary Housing Mortgage Institution (PMI) Act and replace it with a law that would guarantee the needed capital to fund mass housing in the country.
Governor Fashola, while making the call at the commissioning of the Sir Michael Otedola Housing Estate in Odoguranshin, Epe, said he was setting the pace by introducing the Mortgage Board to give legitimate hope of home ownership and ensure that low income earners are able to own their houses.
While expressing optimism that the Mortgage Arbitration Law and the Tenancy Law which he signed recently will help to ensure access to affordable housing in the state, Fashola added: “This will serve as an intervention fund for long-term financing.â€
He noted that the challenge of housing delivery programmes over the years was as a result of lack of finance and the high cost of building materials, maintaining that finance was a major challenge in both housing provision and home acquisition.
Fashola said: “In delivering our electoral promises in the area of mass housing, we are not concentrating on the urban areas alone, rather we are eager to spread the development to the sub-urban and rural areas. Our presence here today clearly justifies this claim.
“The construction of this estate in Odoragushin, Epe, is not, by any means, an accident; rather it is in furtherance of our resolve to decongest the metropolis by establishing satellite estates in remote and sub-urban areas of the stateâ€.
Commissioner for Housing, Bosun Jeje, said the Sir Michael Otedola Housing Estate, Epe, situated on a 9.60 hectare expanse of land, boasts of 336 housing units comprising 160 units of a room and parlour, 86 units of one bedroom and 90 units of two bedroom flats.
“The Housing Estate also boasts of a health centre with male and female wards and three consulting rooms, a police post to ensure security, constant water supply, tarred internal roads and drainagesâ€, Jeje said.