Social Housing Scheme: FG, Cement Manufacturers Agree On Discount — Osinbajo

Cement manufacturers have agreed with the Federal Government to charge a discount price for the construction of houses under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), the presidency has revealed.

A statement issued in Abuja, on Sunday, by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, said the gesture is part of its determination to ensure the success of the Social Housing scheme meant to construct 300,000 houses under the ESP for low income earning Nigerians.

The statement said this was disclosed by Osinbajo over the weekend while visiting the completed model houses in Dei Dei at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It said the Vice President expressed confidence in the possibility to deliver decent and affordable accommodation that will be within the reach of many Nigerians.

Osinbajo noted the contributions of major cement manufacturers in the country towards the success of the programme.

“They have agreed to give cement for this project at a considerable discount which is a very helpful thing to do and we really commend and thank them for the contributions they are making, it is a very patriotic thing on their part. They also see the importance of this Mass Housing Programme,” the statement quoted him as saying.

The Vice President noted that “on the average, anybody who is earning N30,000 a month and is ready to spend a third of that amount, will be able to afford one of these houses, that is the plan. What I have seen so far, there is a one-bedroom unit and there is a two-bedroom unit, both coming under N2 million.

“I think that this is a very good thing indeed. And a point has been made that it is possible to build good, decent accommodation that isn’t out of the reach of practically everyone.”

Commenting on the implementation of the scheme across the country, the Vice President assured that the Mass Housing Programme will be provided across the country.

Osinbajo said: “We are hoping that we will be able to replicate this not just in Abuja but all over the country. So far, the Family Homes Fund is in 11 States, and they have given up land for the project.

“We are hoping that this year, we will be able to very rapidly improve the scale and speed of putting these houses in place. Once we are able to get moving quickly, we think we can make available several thousands of houses across the country and more people can afford to live in such houses.”

The Vice President noted that the job creation component of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) would also be actualized through the Social Housing Scheme.

His words: “Also important is the job creation aspect of it. You have young men and women who are builders, architects, civil engineers working on this project. We are hoping that a lot of the building materials will be locally fabricated especially the windows, doors and other components of the houses.”

According to the statement, under the ESP, the Federal Government has mandated the Central Bank to provide financing for the housing scheme and a N200B facility has been approved as the first tranche already.

It informed that there would also be “Rent to Own” option as part of the administration’s resolve to impact the common man in this social housing plan expected to generate 1.8m jobs and deliver houses to about 1.5m Nigerian families.

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