By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Federal Housing Authority (FHA), has unveiled its first affordable housing cooperative in Lagos State.
Managing Director of FHA, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, who launches the cooperative on Monday, said that both the formal and informal sectors were captured in the ongoing mass housing drive.
Ashafa,was represented by Mr Hayatuddeen Awwal, Managing Director, FHA Mortgage Bank.
He explained that the FHA Mortgage Bank operated a single digit interest rate and the FHA was committed to making low interest mortgage available to all Nigerians.
According to him, design and costing are important components that the FHA took into consideration to deliver right specifications to end users.
He said that the FHA has a Cooperative Homes Ownership Department which had professionals that evolved designs that captured specific needs to make houses affordable to end users, especially in the informal sectors.
Ashafa added that the FHA Mortgage Bank, a subsidiary of the FHA, also accesses the National Housing Funds (NHF) on behalf of Nigerians, which allows cooperative societies or individuals to access mortgages.
“Mortgage can be accessed for a period of up to 30 years and the cap on the mortgage is N15 million.
“So informal sector are always encouraged. On our database as I speak now, we have over 15,000 informal sectors duly registered, evaluated and appraised indexed by the bank,’’ he said.
He commended the Lagos State Government for the strategies to increase housing stock.
Ashafa said that FHA was rejuvenating FESTAC and trying to reclaim over 1,000 hectares of land “to demonstrate how affordable home ownership would be delivered to Nigerians especially those from the informal sector’’.
According to him, the FHA is also collaborating with the LASG and other private developers to acquire over 60 hectares along Sagamu Expressway for another affordable mass housing initiative.
He added that 18 units were handed over to beneficiaries of FHA housing schemes recently in Lagos, adding that, the programmes were ongoing in Ibadan, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Owerri, Enugu and other states, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
“So, FHA and FHA Mortgage Bank is committed to making sure that houses are affordable to Nigerians both in the formal and informal sector,’’ he said.
