Plans by the Lagos authorities to tackle accommodation shortages and its attendant high cost of rent are in the offing, as the government has proposed the construction of more low cost housing estates in the state.
The details of the scheme, which will commence on new schemes at the end of the raining season is still sketchy, but may be a partnership schemes between the state and private developers.
Governor Babatunde Fashola made this known at the weekend while commissioning 72 units three bedrooms Elegant Court Housing Estate, Ikota. The estate was delivered under the state’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Cortex Limited, as the developer.
Fashola said the solution to the nation’s housing deficit does not lie with the state government alone, but one that requires a coming together of all stakeholders from the state government to the Federal Government and particularly the private sector.
The governor described the new housing scheme built on 1.9 hectares of land, as the visible results of the partnership that exist between the government and entrepreneurs, who want to do legitimate business of building houses to be sold to the middle and upper income strata of the society where there is a clear market demand.
He said while the government provides the land for the project, the developer provides the funding, adding that the profit that the government would make from this partnership will be invested in the ‘Lagos Homes Project’ to fund the constructions of social housing scheme.
Fashola listed other benefits associated with the partnership to include the employment opportunities created by Cortex limited to 25 permanent employees, sub contractors who supplied the building materials, the 1,500 men and women, who worked on the site to build the houses and the vendors who sold food, water and many other things during the construction period of 30 months.
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje said the PPP arrangement is geared towards removing bottlenecks thereby strengthening a private sector delivery process.
He said the new housing estate has a functional planned human settlement with facilities to sustain a healthy living environment for residents.
The commissioner listed these facilities to include shopping mall, road network and parking with drainage, central sewage system, swimming pool or lawn tennis, central alternative power supply, water treatment plant or water hydrant, central gas distribution or park and solar street lightening or CCTV system.
Jeje said the ministry has developed a template for appraising interested private developers, as well as, facilitating necessary sign-off from relevant ministries and government agencies on behalf of these developers.