By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – Tent Group Limited, a housing company, says it has launched what it calls ‘mortgage protection’ to protect clients and off-takers from shocks and uncertainties which may render them incapable of paying for their building.

It said this on Thursday in a statement titled ‘Housing Deficit: Tent Group Offers Mortgage Protection for Off-takers’.

Speaking on the initiative, the Chairman and CEO of Tent Group, Mr. Charles Nwakamma Chukwuemeka, disclosed that the business initiative was designed to provide free insurance cover for their customers.

He said, “This protection remains unprecedented in the real estate industry and is not accessible by other real estate companies. It is one of its kind feature in the market, to protect our customers.

“We brought this in to protect our clients and off-takers from shocks and uncertainties which may arise from job losses, accidents, sicknesses that may render them incapable of paying for the building.

“In such cases, the insurance companies will come in and complete the payment of the building for him under this offer. That is one of the things we are providing free of charge. We pay the premium on behalf of the off-takers,”

He said the estimate of the housing deficit in Nigeria was more than 17 million and stressed that his firm was poised to fill the gap.

According to him, the group provides classy houses that match the taste of all citizens irrespective of social class.

On what the firm brings to the real estate market, Chukwuemeka said the genre of smart homes it provides include energy-efficient and gas-efficient apartments.

He, however, lamented that real estate firms have wait for five to 10 years to get a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the government, which according to him, hampered the growth in the sector.

He said, “You know that if your documents are not certified, they are not bankable anywhere in the world, even locally.

“We keep battling with Right of Occupancy and Letter of Intent with the governments. So, if the government wants us to help in building a lot of homes as quickly as possible, the Land Use Act needs to be urgently reviewed by making sure that the C of O is quickly obtained by firms with relative ease. That will help in bringing a lot of funds and speeding up activities in the real estate sector.”

As for Nigerians at home and in diaspora, who desire to own property, he said the firm has a platform where prospective homeowners would register to give building type and specification while the firm conceptualises the building to meet the need of the homeowner.

“We are flexible, considering the fact that prospective clients in the real estate market come with a variety of needs, tastes, and expectations,” he added.