Lagos Pledges Annual Delivery of 200,000 Housing Units

The Lagos State Government has set a target to deliver 200,000 housing units annually in the next five years in order to bridge the deficit of three million housing units recorded in the state. The State Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal expressed this hope at a recent signing of memorandum of understanding with Messrs Brains and Hammers Limited. He emphasized that government alone cannot deliver the required housing units hence the need to inject private capital into the housing delivery.

To achieve this purpose, the state government has made land available to prospective private developers who have exhibited technical and financial capabilities for the delivery of affordable housing units. The MoU is in respect of the development of 618 housing units at the Jubilee Estate in Iganmu through the public private partnership model, which is expected to relieve the government in the face of scarce financial resources; while will providing employment opportunities, thereby bringing a major democracy dividend to the community.
The project will create 3590 direct jobs and about 7000 indirect jobs in the area which is dominated predominantly by the informal sector practitioners such as artisans, laboures, traders and food vendors.

The project is designed to drive urban redevelopment in the area and result in increased property values in the surrounding environment and a re-positioning of the current site from one which currently offers little value to a highly sought after and well-built residential development.

The name Jubilee Estate was coined by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to celebrate the 50th anniversary of creation of Lagos State; as such the estate will stand as a symbol of this celebration for many decades to come.
Lawal said, “The project is a PPP between the Lagos State Government represented by the Ministry of Housing and IBILE Holdings Limited on one hand and Brains and Hammers, one of the foremost housing developers in the country on the other hand. The stands to derive significant internally generated revenue through the taxes that will accrue from the sale of housing units and will benefit from Land Use Charge and other statutory payments for property.”

The estate will comprise of 96 units of 2 bedroom flats, 414 units of 3 bedroom flats and 108 units of 4 bedroom terraced houses subject to actual usable land area on site. In addition to adequate parking facilities and excellent infrastructure, the development will encompass a well-equipped clubhouse with a swimming pool, recreational areas and landscaping. The project will officially commence in July, 2017 and the projected duration is 60 months from the receipt of all required approvals and permits.

While Lawal signed for the state government, Messrs Adebola Sheidu, chairman of Brains and Hammers and Abubakar Sheidu, company secretary witnessed their hand for the company. Speaking on anticipated the challenges in the course of executing the project, Mr. Ibrahim Wushishi, chief operating officer of the company said, “The potential challenges with the site are two-fold. Firstly, the terrain is challenging for construction but over the years Brains and Hammers has developed the skill and competence required to provide quality construction regardless of terrain. We are leveraging on the best available technology in the form of vibro-flotation which will be used to stabilise the soil and prepare it to take large structures safely and securely. We will also be working with Lafarge who are recognised as the largest producers of building materials globally and we will be working with some of the proprietary technology in the form of specialised and customised concrete. The second challenge we envision is being able to keep up with demand for the housing units. Due to the strategic location, we have been inundated with demand. As we are only able to build a total of 618 housing units currently, we are saddled with the limited supply and very heavy demand.”

The finished development will be serviced by a stand-alone sewage treatment system that will have the required capacity and functionality to meet the needs of the estate in an environmentally-friendly manner, without recourse to other facilities in the area. Similarly, there is a plan to provide an integrated power solution for the estate that encompasses dedicated electricity supply from the local power provider and on-site power generation which will be augmented by a solar-powered solution. This will ensure value for money for residents and ensure carbon emissions are kept to a minimum and the development is environmentally friendly.

Related Articles