Lagos housing scheme in Ilubinrin, Ijora under review
BETTER days may be in the offing for prospective homeowners if the developments last week in the housing industry are anything to go by. Lagos authorities plan to review its projects in two locations to boost homeownership in the state.
The state government is also planning to reduce housing deficit in Lagos, as a study carried out two years ago, stated that 2.55 million units of houses would need to be provided, while 187, 500 units must be provided annually.
The State’s Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal told The Guardian that the present vision is to synergy between construction and mortgage finance, and maintenance to drive government’s policy in housing delivery.
Under the new philosophy, the government will be collaborating with private sector operators, especially real estate developers. For instance, two of Lagos HOMS’ projects, located at Ilubinrin along the Osborne road and Ijora, are being reviewed to meet the current reality. Works have temporarily stopped at both sites to ensure the review of the programme.
“The reality is that the two locations present a formidable competition by private developers, who are developing what one can described as ‘world class’ project. And the site, especially, Ilubinrin, being a waterfront land, with a lot of reclamation activities in place, made it imperative that we should be mindful of the type of housing projects we embark upon, so that at the end of the day it wouldn’t look like we just develop a project that couldn’t stand the test of time.
“Similarly, the Ijora project must also properly reassessed and possibly redesign, in view of transformation that would take place along the axis. We have nine stations of the blue Line project, right from Okokomaiko to the National Theatre. So, there must be a befitting estate that would take care of residents that would flock the place in the nearest future”, said the Commissioner.
However, he admitted that in view of limited budget allocation to the sector, involvement of private participation becomes imperative; an initiative he said had attracted many proposals and presentations, both locally and outside the country.
“The question arose is how would this be possible? Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration is not under delusion that housing delivery of such magnitude would be a small feat, hence, the involvement of private developers, who are sincerely committed to help in meeting this obligation to the people of Lagos state.
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1 Comments
how about the rent-to-own that he(ambode ) promised? from the look of things now, it seems that promise will be a “June 12”; there is God oooooo
We will review and take appropriate action.