By Kingsley Adegboye

IN a bid to stem the  housing deficit in Lagos, the State government last week, formally launched the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, HOMS  with the allotment of 200 housing units of one and two-bedroom types  to applicants. The number will increase to 300 and beyond per month as the number of completed homes increase and sustainability guaranteed.

Governor, Babatunde Fashola explained that starting from March 4 when the first draws would hold in public for the first 200 homes, there should be a minimum of 200 new home owners in Lagos every month, even after he has completed his tenure..

Advising applicants to bid for only houses in the areas where they are prepared to live, Fashola noted that the government will not allow any successful applicant to rent out his or her house. “If you do not live in the house that you win, you would have violated our first home owner rule and it is a ground to re-possess the house, pay you off and offer it to those who really need a home,” he said.

“If you wish to live on the Island or in Surulere, you can bid for a home in Oyingbo, but certainly not one in Ikorodu with a view to renting it out. We will only allow you to rent your house out after 10 years when you would have fully paid for the house. Let me add that prompt payment of monthly mortgages will be rigorously enforced because we have seen that default of payment and difficulty of re-possessing houses from defaulters has been a major disincentive to investment in the property sector, by private developers whose participation in housing development is critical to our ability to increase the supply of homes.

“We have therefore resolved to quicken recovery by using arbitration rule which have been drafted into the contract of sale and the mortgage agreement and the arbitration proceedings are expected to be completed in 21 days”, Fashola said.

The governor who stated that only Lagos residents who are tax payers will benefit from the scheme, added that the state has taken the definition of residency applicable in the tax laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is a continuous period of residency for a minimum period of 189 days or about six months irrespective of one’s original root.

Fashola who also inaugurated the State Mortgage Board that will administer the management of the scheme and proper allocation of the houses to would-be winners, informed that as the scheme is being flagged off with a total of 4,260 homes made up of 1,104 completed homes and 3,156 at various stages of construction.
“The scheme is such that revived the mortgage culture, as winners will have to pay for the houses for a period of at least ten years after making the initial deposit of 30 percent of the cost of the choice home”, the governor noted.

The state has built houses in Ikorodu, Ogba, Epe, Badagry, Lekki, Agege, Alimosho and other areas for people to have choices on where they wish to reside.
“We are starting another 132 units in Iponri, 720 units in Ibeshe in Ikorodu, 420 units in Ajara, Badagry, 648 units in Sangotedo Phase II, 216 units in Obele, 36 units in Akerele Phase II, 48 units in Oyingbo, 1,254 units in Ilubirin and 1,080 units in Ijora- Badia and this would give us an estimated 4,554 units when completed,” he said.