The managing director of the Gafford Property and Homes, Gbadebo Olamerun, has said that the firm is ready to play a part in addressing housing deficits in Nigeria.
Speaking at the groundbreaking of its Ogudu Delight Estate, Olamerun said the estate is for the super-rich, middle-class and upcoming middle-class.
Olamerun said, “Gafford Property is launching and breaking the ground for the Ogudu Delight Estate. Ogudu Delight will be sitting on a hectare of land and we are proposing to build 14 units of four-bedroom duplexes. We are building 13 units four bedroom duplexes and one unit of a five-bedroom duplex.
“And we are partnering with mortgage homes so that they can help us because if you have 20 per cent to deposit, the mortgage can help you pay the rest as time goes on. So, you don’t need to put the whole money down because just 20 per cent of the money will serve you. So it is providing solutions to the neighbourhood.
“Ogudu Delight offers apartments that will meet your highest standards, with excellently designed homes that bring comfort, luxury and appreciation over time. It is an estate that gives you the feeling of safety with a unique blend of comfort, affordability, and luxury.
“We are focused on ensuring that our projects are completed in scheduled time, on budget, using the highest possible quality standards and materials so as to yield high returns on investments for our investors. One of our prime objectives is to bridge the housing deficit of about 17 million in Nigeria, client seeking top property development companies in Nigeria can confidently turn to us.
“The concept of this is to constantly provide solutions to the housing deficit in Nigeria. A lot of Nigerians don’t have a place called home. We are collaborating with other stakeholders in the industry. We are also collaborating with the state and federal government to provide solutions to the housing deficit in the Nigerian ecosystem.
“Gafford is one of the brands that would be seen for a very long time, I can assure you. Going by the trajectory of what we have been able to do over the years, we are excited we would be doing this project at Ogudu. The groundbreaking is very phenomenon because we have decided that upon the completion of this construction, it will take us 12 months calendar and we will be able to put together the structure.
“We are in partnership with Mortgage Banks and as of today, we have about two Mortgage Banks in collaboration with Gafford Homes to help Nigerians build a sustainable home. The building is N80 million per unit and we will be doing some magical things here.”
On his part, the senatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for Lagos Central Senatorial District, Yomi Idowu, said government at all levels should support real estate developers to make homes more affordable for Nigerians.
Idowu said, “It is a beautiful concept and this is what we need in Nigeria because we need more houses for people. A lot of Nigerians don’t have a home of their own.
There are already policies by the government but there is no enforcement. We have Mortgage policies but the banks are not releasing the money. So, developers like this should go to the banks and the banks should pay them off and look for people to purchase them through mortgages. People don’t need to pay for everything at a go.
“We are too much of a cash economy but we should be an economy that is driven by credit because many of the developed economies are credit economies. And we can never develop with the cash economy.”
