FG Disburses N25bn out of N500bn Housing Fund

• FG Disburses N25bn out of N500bn Housing Fund

Out of the N500bn earmarked to address the housing deficit under the Family Homes Fund Programme, the Federal Government has disbursed the sum of N25bn.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who confirmed the figure in Abuja explained that more of the fund was being processed and would be released soon.

Family Homes Fund is an initiative of the Federal Government aimed at facilitating affordable housing delivery by entering into specific partnerships with supportive state governments, developers and international partners/agencies that can provide technical support and financing for project implementation.

About six states have entered into a partnership with the Federal Government under the pilot phase of the programme.

Based on available statistics, Nigeria’s housing deficit currently stands at approximately 17 million, given an estimated demand of between 38 million and 44 million units that need to be provided.

Despite this grim situation and the critical importance of housing, Nigeria’s housing stock stands at about 13 million for a population of about 180 million people.

Based on World Bank study, Nigeria requires about N60tn to address the housing deficit in the country.

But the finance minister said the Federal Government was working with state governments to address the housing deficit.

She said, “Housing presents a basic need of many Nigerians that is largely unmet.

“In a bid to bridge the gap, the Federal Government in collaboration with the states have created the Family Homes Fund that aims at not only providing affordable homes but also to create jobs in the economy.

“The fund of N500bn is estimated to provide 500,000 homes and 1.5 million jobs for our citizens. So far, over N25bn has been released with more under processing.”