Developer boosts affordable housing, launches rent-to-own scheme

One of Africa’s foremost real estate firms, Mixta Africa has unveiled a new scheme, ‘Duo’ designed to bridge the gap in the affordable housing segment of the real estate sector.

Duo is lease-purchase options targeted at low to middle income earners in Nigeria beginning with Lagos State for its pilot phase project. The scheme can be accessed for Marula Park housing project located in Lagos New Town, a family-friendly, gated community situated off the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

The Rent-To-Own scheme offers flexible and accessible opportunities to live in one of Mixta Africa’s upscale, beautiful and serene communities on a lease, while working towards the option of outright purchase and complete ownership of a two-bedroom flat for N31.9m at the end of a fixed three-year period. It caters to the middle-income segments of the housing industry, focusing primarily on working families in Lagos.

Speaking at the official launch of the scheme in Lagos, the country manager, Mixta Africa, Mrs. Sade Hughes, said the new innovation is designed with state of the art infrastructure for Nigerians both home and in the diaspora to meet their housing needs.

Hughes explained that subscribers to the scheme will pay rent for three years, which can later translate to property acquisition. She noted that the scheme is in line with the philosophy of the firm, which is to make housing accessible at the market through flexible payment plans, adding that it is also working with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria through the NHF scheme where Nigerians who subscribed to the scheme can access mortgage at single digit and others.

The Chief Commercial Officer of the company, Mrs. Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, emphasised that the scheme is designed to ease the financial stress of home buying for Nigerians, leverage the experiences of other payment schemes in Lagos, to provide a unique solution for home-ownership as well as promote financial inclusion.

She described the scheme as a solution that is adaptable to present reality of the mass market, which is that people need affordable products.

Akinkugbe-Filani said: “People often talk about housing deficit but it is really affordability deficit and that is where we want to be a solution provider. As a business the scheme means innovation, makes a considerable proportion of Mixta Africa’s more affordable real estate holdings available to subscribers who would be required to lease this property for a maximum three-year period, after a five per cent non-refundable equity contribution from the total property price.

“The client pays an annual rent which is added to the five per cent contribution, and the total price of the property to be paid at the end of the lease period. After the lease period expires, clients retain the right to make complete payment in addition to the initially contributed sum, to take full ownership of the property. Property title documents are only handed over to the client after full payment.”
On his part, Mixta Africa’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Benson Ajayi, said given the reality that the economy is going through some challenging times, and the impact of upcoming elections, the simplicity of the scheme and its competitive entry point will lead to rapid adoption and overall success.

“It is more difficult for companies and individuals to cope now and that is why the kind of product we have launched is very important. Home acquisition has always been a problem, government needs to support developers and lead in providing social housing at prices people can buy and there should be affordable mortgage.”