The Lagos State government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC) to deliver 20,000 houses, under the State’s Lagos Affordable Public Housing (L.A.P.H.) initiative, to help bridge the housing gap in the State.
The MoU executed on Monday will avail residents of the State the housing affordability and accessibility that NMRC provides through the refinancing of long-term mortgages.
The partnership with NMRC also includes Ibile Holdings Limited, the state’s investment company as well as some developers engaged by the state through direct and Joint Venture Initiative to deliver 20,000 housing units by 2018.
The Developers partnering with the State government and NMRC are Brains and Hammers Limited, EchoStone Development Nigeria Limited, Industrialized Mass Housing Development Company Limited, Multi-Purpose Infrastructural Development Construction Limited (MIDC) and Tact-Urban Infrastructure Developers Limited.
In his address, the Lagos state Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, stated that in furtherance of the Lagos Affordable Public Housing (L.A.P.H.) Initiative of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration geared towards the construction of 20,000 housing units through Joint Venture Initiative (JVI), the Ministry is working on various modalities to ensure accessibility of the citizenry to these housing units.
Speaking Managing Director/Chief Executive of NMRC Professor Charles Inyangete, said that the signing of the MoU will ensure homeownership for Nigerians a reality.
He said that the MoU will facilitate titles for the properties and the land on which the development will take place, with Lagos State committing to allocating to Developers appropriate land for the purpose of the development; while NMRC is committing to stand at the back end of the transaction to ensure that all the primary mortgage banks have funding available for the refinancing of the project.
Responding on behalf of the Developers, Mr. Adebola Sheidu, Chairman Brains and Hammers Limited, said that hard work and cooperation of both the public and the private sector is required in order to tackle the issue of housing deficit in Nigeria.
