Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

FMBN, labour plan 2,800-unit housing scheme

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
29 August 2018   |   4:19 am
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and leading labour unions have agreed to begin the implementation of a national affordable housing programme for workers.

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and leading labour unions have agreed to begin the implementation of a national affordable housing programme for workers.

FMBN is kick-starting the scheme in two states and Abuja, in conjunction with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

The project will start next month with the launch of the 100-unit housing estate for Voice of Nigeria (VoN) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

After the Abuja launch, Yola (Adamawa State) and Umuahia (Abia State) will follow suit.

The pilot phase of the programme aims to deliver 2,800 housing units in 14 sites across the country. This includes 200 houses in each of the six zones in addition to Lagos and Abuja.   

The housing scheme is a product of strategic collaboration between FMBN and the country’s leading labour unions towards addressing, in a structured and sustainable manner, the housing requirement of workers currently estimated at about 3,750,000 housing units.

It is expected to provide safe, decent, quality and affordable housing to registered members of NLC, TUC and NECA that contribute to the National Housing Fund (NHF) managed by FMBN.

Planned house types therefore include semi-detached bungalows and blocks of one bedroom, two bedrooms, and three bedrooms.

FMBN’s Group Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, said the designs of the houses were based on tested local and international social housing models.

“To ensure successful execution of the programme, the design and implementation plan was based on extensive deliberations and recommendation of housing experts.”

In a related development, the Lagos State government has promised to provide robust business environment for private developers to partner authorities in reshaping the city and accommodate all classes of people.

Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, stated this yesterday in Lagos at the 2018 African Real Estate Conference and Awards with the theme ‘Growing African Cities: The Reshaping Model’ organised by PropertyPro.ng, a member of ToLet Property Group.

According to him, the greatest challenge in housing is how to reduce deficit, stressing that government has set a target of 20,000 new housing units by the year 2020 as part of its multi-faceted approach to confront the three million shortfall.

He said: “Lagos State government is ready for private partners who are set to work with us. Our task is to ensure that enabling environment is possible. For affordable housing, our contribution as government is to make sure that you have land, provided you have the financial and technical ability to develop it. We will also ensure that you have land titles.”

0 Comments