Rent-to-own scheme’ll commence soon —LASG

The Lagos State Government’s rent-to-own policy under the Homeownership Mortgage Scheme will soon commence, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Mr. Olatunji Odunlami, has said.

“We are finalising the rent-to-own scheme; it takes some time for the government to bring out a policy or programme because it must be looked at critically,” Odunlami said at a meeting with allotees from the Mushin, Sangotedo and Igando scheme of the Lagos HOMS.

The rent-to-own scheme was initiated by the former governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to encourage residents to participate in the state’s housing scheme aimed at reducing shortage of homes.

Under the scheme, those who cannot afford the equity for an outright purchase of a house will pay a rent for a specific period, which will go towards offsetting the cost of the house.

The permanent secretary said the state government was trying to expand the homeownership schemes as much as possible for people to key into.

He added, “For government to bring out a policy, we have to think about it critically, consider the entire element involved vis-a-vis the people for whom you are planning the programme.

“We are in the process now, we are working out the number to see what it comes to, based on our yardstick which is usually the public servants whom we can easily track. The private sector can also key into the scheme.”

Odunlami also told the allotees under the Mushin scheme that the estate would be ready at the end of September.

He said the delay in the delivery was due to the state government’s afforts at streamlining the approach to providing service to residents.

He said, “The government is trying to reengineer itself to serve better. Those houses ought to have been completed because the Mushin project is already at 95 per cent but the estate will be completed and keys handed over to the allotees at the end of this month.

“The governor has given a mandate to the ministry to do a review of all the ongoing housing estates under the scheme to help in completing all the outstanding.”

He said the Sangotedo and Igando schemes would be completed in phases and would be done simultaneously.

One of the allottes under the Mushin scheme, Mr. Dotun Coker, said that the houses ought to have been delivered in December 2014.

Coker also appealed to the state government to address the issue of power supply to the estate and others.

Odunlami said the estates would soon be connected to the national grid as generating sets would not be allowed under the scheme.

He also said that the state government would engage facility managers from the private sector to manage the estates.

He added, “There is a need for co-ordinated approach to maintenance and facility managers will be employed. The government is not set to manage the estates, it will provide the necessary wherewithal and allow the private sector to run it. Government is never efficient when it wants to be involved in business because governance is not about business or profit.

“The private sector is better equipped to do that, these managers will be private sector practitioners but they must have registered business and a profile that shows they have been involved with facility management before. We will take them through the process and make sure they are competent.

Source: Punch Newspaper.