Lagos State Government yesterday, flagged off its Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMs) designed for tenants desirous of their own homes.
Beginning from March 4 this year, 200 lucky families who will apply for the scheme and succeed, will get their own homes under the scheme which offers 10 years of loan repayment tenor and 9.5 per cent interest rate, making it truly a mortgage scheme that reflects global best practices.
At the flag-off ceremony that was well attended by housing industry stakeholders, Babatunde Fashola, the state governor, stressed that after three years of debates and disagreements, government has resolved that the scheme is for first time home owners.
Fashola explained that while the state’s Tenancy Law represents his administration’s moral intervention to protect citizens who earn monthly incomes, from landlords who demand multiple year advance payments, HOMS represents their leadership intervention to increase the stock of affordable housing on convenient payment terms.
As for the developers who would be building and selling to government, Fashola said government would patronise such developers on the condition that their housing units are built to specifications and standards under which HOMS houses are developed.
“Today, as we flag off this scheme, there are 1,104 completed homes, while another 3,156 units are at various stages of construction, and we intend to start more. We are starting 132 units in Iponri, 720 units in Ibeshe Ikorodu, 420 units in Ajara Badagry, 648 units in Sangotedo Phase II, 216 units in Obele, 36 units in Akerele Phase II, 48 units in Oyingbo, 125 units in Ilubirin and 1080 units in Ijora. These projects are funded from the taxes that our people have paid as the monthly internally generated revenue,” Fashola said.
