The Lagos State Government (LASG) has expressed its readiness to partner with interested and capable investors in its determined efforts to continuously reduce housing deficit in the state.
The Commissioner for Housing, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, said this while reviewing the activities of the ministry on Monday in Alausa,Ikeja.
Akinderu-Fatai said, “The housing deficit in the state is quite huge, particularly, in the urban areas and private sector participation is essential in changing the present narratives”.
He said that the state government was set to deliver more homes this year.
He said this would be achieved through rigorous planning and policy implementation aimed at timely completion of several ongoing housing schemes.
He added that more could be achieved with additional private investors willing to collaborate with the state government.
Akinderu-Fatai said that the state government had begun implementing policies that would create an enabling environment for increased private sector participation and joint ventures investments in mass housing, especially, in the urban areas.
The commissioner pledged the state government’s commitment to the provision of adequate and quality housing which he said would facilitate opportunity to home ownership in the state.
“Qualitative housing remains a critical factor that determines the quality of living.
“Hence, the present administration in its quest for building a 21st-century economy is focusing on providing decent homes in urban settlements for its teeming residents,” he said.
Akinderu-Fatai also said that the state government was committed to the provision of homes to the public on a continuous basis until the deficit would be significantly reduced.
“In order to serve our people better and to achieve the dream of the 21st century as swiftly as possible, the Lagos State Government envisages a sustainable and continuous system in which homes can be consistently and regularly made available to a larger number of people.
“Given other responsibilities of the state, this can only be possible when private sector investors collaborate with the state to add to the number of homes planned by the government,” Akinderu-Fatai said.
The commissioner called on real estate investors capable of meeting deadlines on high quality homes delivery to see themselves as stakeholders with government.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said that the government would also assist residents unable to access homes through mortgages or outright purchases in government-owned schemes. (NAN)
