Lagos - September 04 - (Viewpoint Housing News) – The Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Homes, Dr Kunle Adeyemi has revealed that the firm has launched its first inclusive housing scheme, ‘Ojo Ola’, designed to make buildable lands accessible to low-income earning Nigerians.
While revealing this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) last Saturday in Lagos, Adeyemi who is also, General Secretary, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), South-West chapter, said the Ojo Ola housing scheme, meant a “better tomorrow housing Scheme”.
He said the scheme was designed for customers at the base of the pyramid of the housing need, who could not afford to own a decent home.
The developer listed the categories of people under the group as petty traders, average salary earners, teachers, artisans and motorists, among others.
The realtor said that the locations of the affordable housing scheme were at the Anuoluwapo layout scheme at Igbodu in Epe, Lagos.
He mentioned also the Irewolede layout scheme at Kobape in Abeokuta and the Orelope layout scheme at Alabata in Ibadan.
“We have other layout schemes underway at Ikorodu, Ifo, Badagry, Atan and Idi-iroko.
“We also plan to launch an initiative in Asaba, for the South-South region by November and cover other regions of the nation soon.
“The housing pyramid is like a triangle and at the apex of it, are the high-income earners, at the middle of the triangle, are the middle-income earners.
“ At the base of the triangle, are the low-income earners.
“ The base of the pyramid is where we have the majority of Nigerians, hence, Ojo Ola initiative was borne out of a compelling need to help this category of people own a home,” he said.
According to him, the layout scheme is custom-made for the set of people, with free architectural design from Sterling and no developmental level or land grabbers issue.
He explained the subscribers were at liberty to build their preferred house design on the land because it had no developer’s control and must not necessarily pick from the Home’s free architectural design.
“The free architectural design we are providing to our subscribers to select from the pool of available designs would have cost them whooping N300,000, so they can save that to build their houses,” he said.
Adeyemi stated that statistics had revealed that Nigerians at the base of the pyramid of housing, were well over 75% of the population.
He noted that more than 18 million out of the estimated 20 million housing deficit in Nigeria, were the low-income earning Nigerians.
Adeyemi expressed worry that the middle-income earners in the country were gradually closing up and as such, the country now had either the rich or poor classes of people.
The realtor noted that there was less attention to low-income earners in the arrays of available housing schemes, hence, the future was not guaranteed for them to own a home.
“Many low-income earners are eager to own a home, while they also have the right to, but do not have enough resources to acquire it.
“Over 60% of Nigerians earn below N100,000 monthly, and except many of them engage in fraudulent activities, they may not be able to afford a home.
“To guide against such fraudulent activities within our system, arising from the desperation to own a home, led to the launch of the Ojo Ola housing scheme”, he said.
According to him, the scheme, in its magnanimity, does not compel the subscribers to build their houses within a specific period of purchasing land, but at their own pace.
The developer stated that the two major targeted audience for the scheme were the home seekers and the investors.
Adeyemi explained that the home seekers were people who desired to have a shelter as basic need of life and to stop the harassment from landlords.
