LagosHOMS upcoming 7,000 units raise fresh hope for Home buyers

Home buyers eager to leverage the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (HOMS) to own homes can be rest assured that the state’s novel initiative which started a year ago holds promise of a sustained supply of as many as 7,000 units of one, two and three-bedroom apartments across the state.

The upcoming units sited in many local governments of the state is the state government’s effort to address the state’s housing problem and  grow a mortgage culture among mid-income earners in their quest to become homeowners.

Disclosing this at the latest edition of the scheme’s monthly draw, Kojo Sagoe, General Manager, Lagos Mortgage Board (LMB), said that with over 2,000 housing units already delivered in one year and  construction currently upbeat in 26 sites across the state, the scheme would in the next few years become a ‘game changing’ initiative for boosting homeownership in Nigeria.

The latest draw, which is the first in the new year produced 57  new home winners, out of the 80 applications received seeking to win homes in 12 available schemes.

Also speaking at the draw, Governor Fashola debunked insinuations in some quarters that the LagosHOMS is exclusive to the elites, maintaining that any resident in the state who has met the required criteria can become a homeowner once picked at the monthly draw.

“If we are all patient, there is opportunity for everyone,” Fashola said in veiled reference to the upcoming 7,000 units.

According to him, the scheme is not only sustainable but also offers first time home owners a more viable platform to climb the property ladder, pointing out that the  partnership with CHOIS Garden to deliver 1,000 housing units was still in progress just  as work continues in other sites such as Ajara, Surulere, Lagos Island, Omole and others.

Fashola urged residents in the state to pay their taxes promptly to enable the state provide more housing units, adding that construction was solely financed from the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR).

He estimated that 14,000 jobs have been created in the course of delivering the homes, adding that as the scheme continues to grow, the draw would be held online to accommodate more applicants.

ODINAKA MBONU