Affordable housing in Nigeria has received a major boost with plans to launch mass housing underway.Nigeria’s Minister of finance , Kemi Adeosun, has said that the new housing fund worthy N500 billion approved by the National Executive Council recently would stir economic activities and redirect the economy to the path of growth.
Mrs. Adeosun, who was responding to questions from the media in her office recently, said a mass housing plan that would make Nigerians own homes under a mortgage arrangement, would start soon in the next three to four weeks.
The minister said under the new initiative known as the “Family Home Fund”, N500 billion had been set aside to create mortgages for affordable houses for Nigerians that will start with the construction of 100,000 houses every year from next year.
According to the minister, the housing fund will increase from N500 billion to N1 trillion to make it possible for the Nigerian government, through the private sector, to deliver about 400,000 houses every year through mortgages.
The mortgage, according to the minister, will be set up at a single digit interest rate of 9.99 per cent with a repayment period of 20 years, with homeowners making an initial deposit of 10 per cent.
The minister added that the low and middle-income earners would highly benefit from the housing scheme as around 70 per cent of the houses would be given out for between N2.5 million and N4.5 million depending on the type.
Mrs. Adeosun said, “We have done a lot of work around how we can bring down the cost. The tag is N2.5 million and it is a house you can move into. So, we are bringing down the cost.
“These are affordable houses in Nigerian; the scheme is going to be linked with the BVN. One house per person; so, you cannot buy the house and rent it to somebody else.”
