National cooperative housing development scheme kicks off

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has flagged-off the National Cooperative Housing Development Scheme (NCHDS).

This is even as he commissioned a Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) funded 154-housing unit Cooperative Woodhill estate located in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kuje, Abuja.

Speaking at the commissioning of the project’s first phase yesterday, the Minister expressed the commitment of the current administration to providing affordable housing for Nigerians.

He said: “FMBN as an agent of the Buhari administration is addressing the problem of housing affordability frontally. I commend the Board and Management of FMBN for this first in a series of many events that define our new partnership with Cooperative Societies.

“Yes, we have come to commission a housing estate and I commend the architect, the property development company, the cooperative members and the subscribers. This string of partnerships, including subscribers who want a house, who are ready to pay for it, who can afford it; the developer who is committed to delivering it, an architect who can meet the needs of the subscribers and most importantly a bank that can translate their dreams and vision into an actual homestead, where people can say I have shelter, is important and we want to do more of it.”

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Earlier, FMBN Managing Director, Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, stated that the housing project is an affirmation that the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme is meeting its mandate of delivering houses that are well-built, decent and affordable to Nigeria workers, especially those within the medium and low-income bracket.

He said the bank partnered with a cooperative society to facilitate homeownership of members who are also contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.

He explained that the housing estate which was commissioned is the first phase of the project with delivery of 77 housing units comprised of 40 units of 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows and 37 units of 3-bedroom detached bungalows.

However, he disclosed that the second phase of the project is on course to deliver the additional 77 housing units adding that the FMBN would provide additional finance to complete the 2.1-kilometre access road.

The affordable housing project, named Woodhill estate, is a product of FMBN’s N997M Cooperative Housing Development Loan to Akacare Multipurpose Cooperative Society for the construction of 154 quality, decent and affordable housing units for its members that are registered contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.