By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has said it would initiate a National Housing Bond towards addressing the housing deficit in the country.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said this in Abuja during a tour of the Federal Housing Authority’s and Cosgrove’s Estates.
According to the Minister, the scheme would help developers provide houses for all categories of Nigerians as different people have different needs in the housing economy in the country.
Mr Fashola said some persons need land and infrastructure, while others want luxury apartments, with the others in need of low-cost apartments, which is where the Cosgrove comes very handy.
“There is Cosgrove Estate in Mabushi which is purely private sector driven; the one at Guzape is a partnership with government (Federal Housing Authority), ENL Consortium and Bauhaus International Limites. The one in Zuba is government-driven.
“We will be working to create a National Housing Bond that housing developers can access at a very reasonable rate. That is something I will be engaging my colleague, the Minister of Finance.
“And hopefully, she would be able to engage the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria who controls our monetary policies. This is because fiscal and monetary policies can help the sector.
“This tour to estates at Mabushi, Guzape and Zuba is to show you that a lot of things are going on in the housing economy of the country,” Mr Fashola said.
He noted that there were different types of houses for different categories of Nigerians and that the government could not do enough until it involved the private sector.
On his part, the Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Mr Gbenga Ashafa, said they wanted people to occupy the estate at Zuba while specifying the number required.
“But we only have 24 occupants and it is because they decided to bring in their own facilities like generator sets and many other things.
“The Injector Sub-Station for electricity has not been completed yet and that is one of the prerequisites that would make the estate habitable.
“It is 80 per cent complete. Very soon, it would be completed and most people would move in,” Mr Ashafa said.
Adding his input, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cosgrove, Mr Umar Abdullahi, has said the company built both premium and affordable houses.
“However, we are collaborating with the government to see how we can extend a payment period that is flexible and affordable for the ordinary man, and we are planning to build houses for those at the very lower class,” he said.
