Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Tuesday hosted an interactive session with tradesmen, artisans, members of the various transport unions, automotive technicians, market men and women on the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, reiterating that the scheme was designed to also provide affordable homes to people in the informal sector.
The Governor who spoke at the Blueroof Hall at LTV Complex, Agidingbi before a large gathering of members of the Lagos State Council of Tradesmen and Artisans (LASCOTA), National Union of Road Transport Workers Union (NURTW), National Automotive Technicians Association (NATA) and other groups, said the housing scheme is not designed for only people in the formal sector.
Towards further enhancing participation, Fashola hinted that the state government is fashioning out a new aspect of the home ownership policy called ‘Rent- To- Own’ which would accommodate those who do not have the capacity to fit into the present mortgage payment structure.
Fashola explained that before convening the meeting, the state government had carried out several researches on what the income of the average transporter and artisan was and had realised that many of them fall within the income brackets that could very well afford to participate in the mortgage scheme.
According to him, the survey revealed that some transporters make as much as N50,000, to N100,000 and even N150,000 profits on a monthly basis while some traders, carpenters and hairdressers realise as much as N100,000 or less on a monthly basis.
President of LASCOTA, Chief Bola Sanusi, and NURTW Chairman, Mr Tajudeen Agbede, confirmed the figures released by the governor.
Fashola observed that comparatively, some of those in the formal sector who have benefitted from the LagosHoms scheme are not earning as much as some of the artisans and tradesmen as revealed from the findings of the state government. He reiterated that while a trader may make a major chunk of his monthly profits margin on a single day, what is instructive is that such a trader could give instructions to his bank on deductions of certain amounts of money from such savings to be remitted into the mortgage account.
Explaining in practical terms how an informal sector operative could participate in the scheme, the governor added that what an allottee earns as profit in a particular period of time would determine which category of homes he is entitled to have, noting that individuals should bid for the home type that his earnings can support.
He assured that the state government would ensure that for anyone, who due to economic reason could not complete his mortgage repayment, whatever he has paid would be returned to him as he would also have the opportunity of bidding for a home that falls within his financial capacity.
Noting that the application process is simple with the openness and transparency enhanced with the use of information technology, the Governor explained that there is nothing elitist about the bidding process for the Lagos Homs because many of the artisans and traders make use of the internet and also use ATM cards which confer adequate knowledge about the usage of such facilities on them.
He said since the commencement of the Lagos Homs public draws in March, the state government has kept religiously to its promise of providing 200 new homes every month to subscribers and that all those in the informal sector also have the opportunity of applying and becoming home owners.
He enjoined them to come forward and apply for the homes, maintaining that the system has been designed in a foolproof manner and that no one is going to demand gratification from any member of the public while attending to him or her.
The governor reiterated that what the state government is providing to its citizenry is affordable homes and not low cost houses as all the major inputs in the home construction process including labour do not come at low cost.
He explained that there is a need for everyone to be mindful of the security challenges that has enveloped certain parts of the country and guard against its spreading to the city of Lagos, adding that the registration exercise must be conducted free of charge for all operators in the transport sector.
He said under the new policy which would soon be unveiled, an allottee would be allowed to move into the home and would be paying a monthly rent while also making mortgage payments which would be saved in a special account which would be drawn upon when the opportunity for the mortgage repayment comes up.
Whilst also speaking on the registration of transporters currently going on in all motor parks in the state, the Governor said the move is aimed at securing the motor parks and the state and ensuring that security breaches do not occur.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Housing, Mr Bosun Jeje, said the convening of the interactive meeting is demonstrative of the fact of the Babatunde Fashola’s administration as a listening one.
He added that the administration is irrevocably committed to ensuring that every part of the society benefits from the affordable homes which the present administration is constructing round the state.
Later in an interview with newsmen, the Governor said the State Government embarked upon a lot of research to find out its pricing on the affordability of the Lagos HOMS to artisans.
He also expressed gladness that the research that was carried and which was confirmed by the artisans indeed showed that many of them were within the same income bracket that would enable them own a home.
“What we need to do now is how to help them order their record keeping in such a way that they would qualify because artisans and tradesmen don’t earn their money monthly on the same scale that salaried employees do. Their incomes come, sometimes they earn money for a whole year in one transaction and sometimes there is a lull.
“I think there is a lot more understanding now, there is also work to be done but what is important now is that five months after, the integrity of the programme is solid, its openness is assured, the sustainability is also steady and every month as we have promised we have put a minimum of 200 homes on the table,” he explained.
The Governor added that the next level is how to multiply access into the scheme, recalling as he said at the launch of the scheme in March that there is nothing that the present administration has done that is cast in stone and that it will continue to respond and react when it sees the realities of how the project and the programme is impacting on peoples’ lives.
“So as I said then, it is like a laboratory experience, in a laboratory, you can control all the variables, when the experiment hits the field, you can’t control the variables in the field, so those are some of the things that we are trying to do now, so there is a new policy slightly different from the mortgage scheme itself.
“That would ultimately lead to the mortgage scheme and that would open access more to people who can’t afford the mortgage and it is called the Rent- To- Own scheme but we are still working, crossing the Ts and dotting the Is and when it is done, we would announce the commencement,” he added.
The event was attended by members of the State Executive Council including the Commissioners for Commerce and Industry, Mrs Sola Oworu, Transportation, Hon Kayode Opeifa, Special Advisers on Housing, Hon Jimoh Ajao and Commerce and Industry, Mr Seye Oladejo and several members of the various groups in the informal sector of the economy.
