…warns abandoned properties would no longer be tolerated.
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, has expressed optimism that the massive housing units projects being embarked upon by the Housing Ministry would create significant number of jobs, alleviate poverty and boost economic growth across the Nation.
The Minister made this known in Abuja, during a site visit to the housing projects located at Dikko in Suleja Niger State, and the National Housing Projects in Gwagwalada and Federal Housing Authority in Guzape areas of the Federal Capital Territory.
Dangiwa noted that the Apo-Guzape project, an ongoing three project model with a total of 866 housing units financed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) under Public Private Partnership with Messers ENL and Bauhaus, has created massive employments and uplifted a lot of people, given the amount of workforce each unit required during construction.
While fielding questions from journalists, The Minister sternly stated that abandoned projects would no more be condoned, adding that his ministry was very zealous as well as intentional about completing all abandoned projects including rescoping where need be, to accommodate available for execution and completion of projects.
To tackle the alarming number of housing deficit unrealistically paraded in the country, he revealed that a process to compel the owners of abandoned houses lying in waste across the country to put them to use will commence in earnest.
He described the process of enforcement to include; stock taking and compilation of completed, unoccupied and abandoned houses, and government demanding payment of triple ground rent as a against the single ground rent currently being paid on houses that have been abandoned for a period of three months upwards.
“This would compel the owners of the houses to put the houses up for rent or sell them off because the empty houses negates the belief of housing deficit in the country” he stated.
On the assessment these projects, Dangiwa decried the dilapidated state of some of the housing units at Dikko area of Suleja, Niger state. He directed the leadership of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to profile the houses and come up with a marketing strategy to ensure speedy sales of these houses to buyers who might be interested in buying them in their present state, warning the bank not to increase their current prices.
The 232 housing units which comprises of 2 bedroom and three bedroom bungalows were constructed under the Public Private Partnership by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in partner with Federal Mortgage Bank (FMBN).
For the 216 units National Housing Project in Gwagwalada, Area Council which was at 48 percent completion stage, the Minister applauded the contractors handling the project for the level of work done despite the Ministry’s inability to promptly mobilize them and further advised them of rescoping the project to accommodate current inflation realities in the country.
According to the minister, the units of houses when completed will be taken off through National Housing Funds (NHF) by those who are contributors, mortgage, rent-to-own scheme and outright purchase.
In the same vein, the Minister has assured the Federal Controllers of Housing in all the states of the federation of provision of the necessary and appropriate tools as part of enhancing effective monitoring and supervision of housing projects.
Salisu Haiba Badamasi
Director (Information)
