FG inaugurates housing portal, urges Nigerians to apply

The Federal Government on Friday inaugurated a portal for its National Housing Programme and urged Nigerians to apply for affordable homes through the website.

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who inaugurated the portal in Abuja, noted that access to affordable houses had remained a challenge for the average Nigerian.

He said the housing construction programme was being carried out in phases and that over 5,000 houses had been completed in the first and second phases across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Fashola said Lagos State had yet to provide the Federal Government with land, while Rivers State would join in the third phase of the project.

The minister said, “We currently have over 5,000 units at different stages of completion. The houses range from one, two and three semi-detached bungalows and one to three-bedroom flats.”

He said the buildings would be sold from N7m to N16.19m, adding that payments could either be through mortgage or any financial system of preference.

Fashola said, “The least selling price for each of these houses will be N7.2m and the highest will be N16.19m. The highest is a three-bedroom bungalow, it is not just the house but it also has land along with it. The bungalows are a little more expensive than the blocks of flats which do not have additional land. There is some slight price differences in the blocks of flats built in the riverine and swampy areas, for example, houses in Edo, Bayelsa.”

He added that, “This is the first time we have a platform that every Nigerian has access to. This provides an opportunity for all Nigerians to apply and ensure a fair process of allocation. We will soon start the official handover and tape cutting as the subscribers come in. We have maintenance and facilities managers in all the estates.”

The minister said the online portal was introduced by the government from which the housing programme would be offered to members of the public.

He said the forms were online and allowed for more openness, limited human interventions, and would hold the government more accountable.

Fashola urged Nigerians to register and apply for the houses online via the ministry’s website.

(The PUNCH)