Housing deficit: FG, NECA to inaugurate 1,071 houses in eight states

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) says it will inaugurate 1,071 completed houses in eight project sites nationwide. 

The bank disclosed this in a statement signed by Timan Elayo, group head, corporate communications, FMBN, on Tuesday.

FMBN said the housing units are part of the over 3,560 homes under phases one and two of the national affordable housing delivery programme.

It said the housing scheme is a collaboration between the bank and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

The firm said the programme aims to build and deliver decent, safe, and quality housing for Nigerian workers at a price that they can afford.

It added that the house types are based on proven social housing models and comprise one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, with prices ranging from N3.1 million to N8.3 million.

According to the bank, the commissioning exercise will be held in eight states on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

The states include: Akure, Ondo state; Yola, Adamawa state; Katsina, Abakiliki, Ebonyi state; Damaturu, Yobe state; Sokoto, Maiduguri, Borno; as well as Kogi state.

FMBN noted that the joint implementation committee (JIC) of the programme, comprising NLC, TUC, and NECA, approved the commissioning exercise at its meeting at the bank’s headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking on development, Hamman Madu, managing director, FMBN, revelled in the completion of the first batch of the housing units, while applauding the labour centres for their cooperation and support.

“We are excited at the progress that we have made on the national affordable housing delivery programme. Indeed, it is a historic initiative as it marks the first time that FMBN and the organised labour and NECA are working together on the basis of a realistic and acceptable framework for delivering affordable housing to Nigerian workers,” Madu said.

He added that the stakeholders’ involvement and contributions to the project design make the scheme a fit-for-purpose tool that will deliver houses that workers can afford.

This, Madu said, is part of the overall national efforts toward redressing the huge housing deficit that experts now estimate to be over 22 million housing units.