The federal government has received 7,315 applications for its 5,000 housing units built under the National Housing Programme one week after the launch.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said this while briefing members of the Senate Committee on Housing on the programme.

Portal for the National Housing Programme comprising of one, two and three bedroom apartments was launched in Abuja last Friday.

Fashola said out of the over 7,315 applications received from Nigerians as of noon on Thursday, 7,216 were pending, while 99 had been submitted successfully.

He, however, disclosed that while 24 applications had been submitted from the FCT, no single one has been submitted from 20 states.

The Minister said the current National Housing Programme is a pilot or demonstration scheme meant, among others, to galvanize private sector participation.

On Housing deficit, the minister told the Commitee chaired by Senator Sam Egwu that solution to it was not just on building of houses but marketing the empty ones.