The Federal Government has commenced the construction of the 250 housing units at Renewed Hope Estate in Katsina State.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Musa Dangiwa, officially inaugurated the project, marking it as the first Renewed Hope Estate to be launched by the Federal Government.
This information was confirmed in a statement published on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s website on Wednesday.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the 250-unit Renewed Hope Estate, Arc. Musa Dangiwa announced that the estate will include 50 one-bedroom, 150 two-bedroom, and 50 three-bedroom semi-detached bungalows. He highlighted that these homes are designed for future expansion as beneficiaries’ incomes grow.
“The Renewed Hope Estate in Katsina comprises 50 units of 1-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, 150 units of 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, and 50 units of 3-bedroom semi-detached bungalows.
“We have designed these housing units in a way that makes it easy and affordable for people to offtake. We have used organic designs to allow for future expansion as the income of beneficiaries increases. What this means is that the 1-bedroom can be expanded to 2 bedrooms and a 2-bedroom expandable to 3 bedrooms as the owner’s financial situation improves or he grows in service,” the Minister was quoted saying.
During his speech, Dangiwa tasked the developers—Messrs K-4 Engineering Ltd, WindLand Engineering & Properties Ltd, Real Phenomenon Integral Services Ltd, and Saltine Engineering Services Ltd—to adhere to design specifications and deliver high-quality work, warning that substandard work will not be tolerated. He also set a deadline of three months for the completion of the 250 housing units.
The Minister further stated that the construction of each housing unit is expected to create an average of 25 direct and indirect jobs, translating to approximately 6,250 jobs for the entire project.
What you should know
The Renewed Hope Cities and Estates project is an initiative of the President Bola Tinubu administration to bridge the housing gaps in the country, with the aim to deliver 50,000 housing units nationwide under the Phase 1 of the project.
The Renewed Hope Cities are designed to have between 500-1,000 housing units per site in one location in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country and the Federal Capital Territory, while the Renewed Hope Estates will have 250 units per site in the remaining thirty states.
The Federal Government has already awarded contracts for 3,500 housing units in 13 states under the Phase 1 of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estate project, with the funding for these projects coming from the N50 billion 2023 Supplementary Budget of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The other states not covered under the 2023 Supplementary Budget will be included in the 2024 Budget, the Minister of Housing had earlier announced.
This initiative aims to address social inequality by offering various affordable ownership options, including single-digit, up to 30-year mortgage loans from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, rent-to-own schemes, and outright purchases for high-income earners.
The programme is designed to operate as a cross-subsidy initiative, with 80% of units sold at commercial rates and 20% at concessional rates for low- and medium-income Nigerians affiliated with the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.