The federal government has taken a significant step towards making affordable housing a reality for Nigerians, launching an online portal that allows citizens to purchase homes in the Renewed Hope Housing estates without needing personal connections or tedious paperwork.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Renewed Hope Housing Platform yesterday, May 21, 2024, in Abuja, the Minister of Housing, Ahmed Dangiwa stated that President Bola Tinubu was determined to break all the barriers to homeownership for Nigerians.
He assured that the event was in line with government’s promise to facilitate and promote the creation of technology systems and private sector-led initiatives that will make it simpler, easier, and more convenient for Nigerians to own their homes.
Dangiwa said the new platform provides an online, transparent, easy-to-use, integrated web-based application for the sale of homes under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme of the Ministry, which the president launched earlier this year.
Describing the new portal as smooth and straightforward, he stated that it ensures a seamless and secure registration process with identity verification, enabling potential homeowners to efficiently search for properties using various filters, ensuring they find homes that meet their specific needs.
“The platform also integrates features that offer flexible payment options, including both one-time payments and instalment plans, catering to different financial situations. It also provides easy access to mortgage plans, allowing homebuyers to check their eligibility and apply from anywhere in the world.
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“It supports equity contributions for mortgages, streamlining financial planning for buyers. Integrated features like credit checks and bank statement generation simplify the application process. Buyers can also apply for the release of up to 25 per cent of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balance for additional financial support,” he said.
Dangiwa stressed that the ministry was not duplicating housing delivery systems, but supports the mainstreaming of a better, carefully designed, more efficient, and futuristic housing platform that builds on the lessons learned from earlier ones.
“As you may recall, in December 2023, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium of developers led by Continental Civil to deliver 100,000 housing units nationwide.
“This platform is a key part of this partnership. With this online housing sales platform, we aim to streamline the process for the marketing and sale of houses being built under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme,” he added.
“Currently, we have Estates in 12 locations and 3 Cities across the country. The Estates are sited in Yobe, Gombe, Ebonyi, Abia, Nasarawa, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Katsina, Sokoto, Oyo and Osun. The Cities are in Abuja, Kano and Lagos,” he added.
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Also speaking, Managing Director of Quantum Agency Services Limited, the marketing partners for the project, Adetola Jagunna, said the new arrangement will be very different feom what obtained in the past.
She said that from the comfort of their homes, Nigerians can start from the beginning to the end once they log on to the platform, including pre-qualification to repayment and offer letter with a step-by-step display of the completion rate during the process.
“You can get your offer letter from the platform. There’s no bureaucracy. You accept your offer letter on the platform, you can make your initial deposit from the platform, you get your receipt generated from the platform, get your allocation from the platform and then it’s off the market.
“So this is very different. It is not the one that you say, it’s been distributed among them. No. The same way I am going to apply is the same way every other person is going to apply,” she added.
She added that it was also very deliberate to make it affordable since government is trying to provide housing for even first-time low-income earners who want to own homes.
In his remarks, Consultant to the consortium, Continental Civil and Ceezalli, responsible for the delivery of some 100,000 housing units, Damola Akindolire, described the programme as transformative.
He argued that economies thrive when the private sector is given an opportunity to engage, stressing that while it took months and years in the past, the process is now shorter and more transparent.
“It brings about accountability. It brings about efficiency. And from the comfort of your living room or your office space, you can access any of the estates or units being built under the Renewed Hope Citizens Estates Programme,” he added.
ThisDay
