Abbey Building lifts first-time buyers with 10-yr, low-interest mortgage
For first-time home buyers, those just getting onto the homeownership ladder, Abbey Building Society plc, a leading mortgage bank in Nigeria, is the new destination and dependable source of ‘affordable’ mortgage finance.
The bank, which is one of the very few well-capitalised mortgage banks in the country, is financing the development of 1,000 affordable housing units comprising 1, 2 and 3-bedroom semi-detached bungalows at Teju Royal Garden Estate along Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
At a time when it is difficult to get any form of housing finance, Abbey is offering those wishing to buy from this estate 17 percent fixed interest rate mortgage repayable in seven-10 years.
According to officials of the bank, the decision to offer this kind of mortgage is in keeping with their mission to assist Nigerians to own affordable housing using their mortgage services.
Teju Royal Garden, which is being developed by Multi-purpose Infrastructure Development Company (MIDC), sits on 102 acres of land, and is estimated to cost about N2.7 billion.
During a tour of the estate by a select group of journalists, Emmanuel Obire, managing director/CEO of MDIC, disclosed that Abbey as their lead partner on the project was committed to its early delivery, adding that the mortgage bank also shared his company’s mission to provide affordable homes for Nigerians.
Located between two great institutions – the Lagos State University and the National Postgraduate Medical College – along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Teju Royal Garden, a joint venture project between the Tejuosho royal family and MIDC, targets low-income earners.
Obire explained that they have been able to keep the cost of the houses low by making them functional and not necessarily big, adding that they have also been able to do this by controlling other variables such as the cost of land and infrastructure provision.
The estate offers different house-types including 100 units of one-bedroom bungalows, 200 units of two-bedroom bungalows, and 450 units of detached and semi-detached three-bedroom bungalows, giving a total of 750 housing units for the first phase of the project which will be delivered by December this year.
The second phase of the project made up of 75 serviced plots and 250 housing units comprising two-bedroom flats, three- bedroom flats and terrace houses will be completed by December 2014.
“One-bedroom goes for N2.5 million; two-bedroom N4.5 million; three-bedroom semi-detached N6.5 million; and three-bedroom detached N8 million. There will also be blocks of flats in the next phase of the project where two-bedroom will be selling for N4 million while the three-bedroom will sell for N6 million. These will be on two-storey buildings,” Obire said.
According to him, one of the major highpoints of this estate is the employment it has created for the locals, explaining that on daily basis, the estate employs about 300 workers who are on average payment of N500,000-N750,000. “This is a significant contribution to GDP. So, if government makes a conscious effort to invest in housing and infrastructure, addressing unemployment is no longer an issue,” he noted.
By: CHUKA UROKO