LASG Crashes House Prices by 53.48%, Rolls out 1,000 Units

• Sets aside 20% for rental housing scheme

By Gboyega Akinsanmi

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday crashed housing prices under its Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS) by at least 53.48 percent, though it said reduction varied from unit to unit and area to area.

Also, the state government disclosed that 20 percent of all the units had been earmarked for rental housing, saying it introduced the rental housing policy as a social welfarist policy to cushion the effects of economic recession.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday after the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, inspected the Sir Micheal Otedola Housing Estate, Epe, alongside the Commissioner for Housing & Social Amenities, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal and his works & infrastructure counterpart, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, among others.

As indicated in the statement, the governor said the prices of the units had been reduced, with the price for a two-bedroom flat dropping from N7.2 million to N3.5 million, representing 48.6 percent.

Ambode added that the price for one-bedroom flat had been reduced from N4.3 million to N2.3 million, amounting to 53.48 percent while the price for room-and-parlour had been crashed to N1.5 million.

He explained the decision of his administration to review the housing policies which, he said, became imperative to reduce the effects of economic recession on its residents as a responsive government.

He explained that the need to cushion the effects of economic recession brought about the new policies to make housing affordable to all residents in the state irrespective of their ethno-religious backgrounds.