LagosHOMS in aggressive push to create communal living
Promoters of the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS)—the state’s housing initiative that provides both homes and the mortgage finance for owning the homes, has disclosed that part of its cardinal objectives is to aggressively push for creating communal living.
Efforts, they add, are also in motion to communicate the scheme to all members of the society through aggressive advertisement strategy which include regular road shows, one-on-one discussions with traders etc.
Executive secretary of the Lagos Mortgage Board—the managers of the scheme— Kojo Sagoe, gave these hints at the October edition of the monthly draws for applicants wishing to own homes through this mortgage scheme.
Sagoe said his board was already making progress in convincing applicants on the importance of seeking new communities away from the metropolis, hoping that, with time, applicants would embrace housing schemes in the suburbs wholeheartedly.
Babatunde Fashola, the state governor, at the event, reaffirmed government’s commitment to meeting the housing needs of residents, calling on all first time homeowners in the state to leverage the mortgage scheme to realize their dream.
The governor who was represented at the draw by his deputy, Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, described LagosHOMS as a revolutionary initiative by the state administration to provide homeownership opportunity for all residents with sustainable incomes.
The October draw produced 34 new homeowners and Fashola recalled that since its inception in March, the scheme has produced a total of 477 winners from 1,655 applications received so far, adding that as many as 301 winners have fully taken possession of their units while others were about closing their deals.
He urged more applicants to participate in the scheme, pointing out that there were equal chances for everyone as the state government had not faltered in its promise to provide 200 homes monthly since the scheme commenced.
“We encourage everyone to keep trying till they win their own homes. It’s in our character to make sure that the welfare of Lagosians are catered for and LagosHOMS initiative is one way of fulfilling this promise,” he said.
Highlighting other achievements of the state in its quest to provide basic amenities for residents, the governor said government was committed to providing safe and conducive institutions for learning, effective health care services, amongst others.
“We are also driving economic empowerment for the youths through various initiatives. Recently, we trained a good number of youths on our grassroot platforms,” he said, adding that the state has also launched another platform to drive economic empowerment in the state by training 14,000 youths.
ODINAKA MBONU