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By Kingsley Adegboye

A foremost Lagos-based real estate development company, Megamound Investment Limited has introduced a new housing model known as County Apartments at its popular Lekky County Homes Estate, Lekki, Lagos aimed at affording prospective home owners to have roof over their heads in this time of harsh economic climate in Nigeria.

Comprising 120 units of three-bedroom apartments, each apartment incorporates a distinctive design with modern innovation to create homes with unique settings of space with three baths, visitor’s toilet, front and backside balcony, fully equipped kitchen and car park.

Speaking at the official launch of the off-plan project last week, the Managing Director of the company,Mr. Olumide Osunsina, said the County Apartments are designed exclusively for those who desire a truly unique social environment, pointing out that each apartment goes for N24.9 million with a down payment of 30 per cent. He noted that after the initial down payment of the 30 per cent, subscribers are expected to pay the balance in 36 months while the apartments will be completed in 24 months.

He added that his can firm assist prospective subscribers to the projective with mortgage facility from banks to provide a mortgage plan. He stated however, that no one can move into the apartment without completing payment. Lamenting the current economic situation of the country, Osunsina disclosed that what the market needs with the economic situation in the country is homes that are not expensive, but affordable.

Megamound boss who said 2,000 households are expected at Lekky County Homes Estate by the time the entire sprawling estate is completed, explained the challenges his firm is facing to deliver homes for Nigerians. According to him, difficulty in getting properly structured land titles, lack of skilled manpower, high cost of building materials and problem of logistics among others are major challenges confronting developers in the provision of affordable housing in the country.

He said the estate has standard facilities such as recreational parks, club house, shopping mall, nursery and primary schools, a clinic and pharmacy. Other infrastructure include network of roads, drainage, walkways, transformers, street lighting, telecommunication, gardening and landscaping and water treatment plants.

Also speaking, Mr. Meckson Innocent Okoro of Messrs M. I. Okoro & Associates, a firm of Estate Surveyors & Valuers/Property Consultants and Corporate Estate Agents which is the sole estate agent to County Apartments, said that considering the track record of Megamound in the delivery of Carlton Gate Estate, Carlton Gate Akodo, Carlton Gate Ibadan, Carlton Gate Abeokuta, NICON Town, Lekki and Lekky County Homes, all of which meet UK and USA standards, a time has come for federal and state governments to use the company as a model for Nigeria’s housing provision.

Okoro who noted that the greatest challenge any developer has in Nigeria is accessibility to land at reasonable cost and lack of finance, added that when these twin problems are addressed through deliberate housing policy by the state and federal governments, the hope of common man in having a roof over his head would have been realised.

According to him, “When government makes land available, provide infrastructure and arrange single digit interest rate on borrowed funds used strictly for providing houses for public purposes, the price of houses will drop. In the same vein, government must invest directly in social housing aimed at helping small income group to have their homes”, Okoro stated.