The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Lagos reforms lands registry to improve economy

    Lagos reforms lands registry to improve economy

    Lagos State Governor  Akinwunmi Ambode has said reforms to reposition land administration for efficiency and ease of doing business have been put in place by his administration. These include the deployment of cutting-edge technology.

    Ambode made this known while inaugurating the upgraded and redesigned Land Registry in Alausa, Ikeja.

    The reforms, he said, were reasons for the accelerated issuance of land documents. About 11, 034 documents have so far been issued. The breakdown is: 4,602 Certificates of Occupancy (CofO), as well as 6,118 Governor’s Consent and 314 Deemed Grant Consent.

    Describing the new Land Registry as another major step towards the ideal situation in land administration and management, Ambode said the essence of the reforms were basically to boost private enterprise considering that land is a vital asset with which capital can be accessed, leading ultimately to increased economic activities. The governor expressed optimism that with the land administration reforms, entrepreneurs and individuals will now be able to register their titles faster and have access to capital, which he said will in turn create opportunities for jobs and also wealth creation.

    “This new registry is equipped with a Thomson Reuters suite of technology modules designed to conduct rapid inventory of actual/existing land rights, automate and manage land records and ensure integration of geographic data/Survey. This solution also comes with online consummation of all levels of services rendered by the Lands Bureau. It will streamline the process of registering title and remove the bottlenecks previously associated with the process. The redesigned layout of the registry makes it more service friendly to all who have land transactions to process,” Ambode explained.

    He further revealed that the state has introduced the concept of the “Land Administration Campus.” This entails bringing all agencies and Ministries involved in Land Administration to one location to further ease the process of land registration and titling. Consequently, the Office of the State Surveyor General will be relocated to occupy the office of the Ministry of Environment.

    This will enable the creation of a One –Stop-Shop where the Office of the State Surveyor General, Ministry of Physical Planning & Urban Development and the Lands Bureau are located within the same complex, to fast-track processing of land titles.

    With the new arrangement, coupled with the deployment of the new Integrated Land Administration and Automation System and the Geographical Information System, it is hoped that the state government would achieve a combined effect of making the process of securing land title seamless, and also engender the highest level of security and integrity of title document.

  • Affordable housing: private initiative to the rescue

    Affordable housing: private initiative to the rescue

    With growing population, a lingering housing deficit and government’s continued inability to provide affordable housing in practical sense, a multinational has seized the initiative to provide technical support, materials, and connect  mortgage providers with prospective house owners, among  others. MUYIWA LUCAS reports that the initiative is part of the firm’s global plan, which will benefit 25 million households, with Nigeria benefitting substantially. 

    It is not a new piece of information that Nigeria’s population is increasing geometrically. But several studies conducted by the United Nations on Nigeria’s population showed that come 2050, there will be 400 million people in Nigeria, is frightening. This projection means that the country would have overtaken the United States (US) in another 32 years from now, as the 3rd most populous country in the world.

    In similar vein, the World Bank projected that Nigeria’s population is growing at 2.8 per cent rate yearly, while her per urban population grows at 4.7 per cent as a result of the rise in rural-urban migration. This growth rate is, however, disproportional with staggered attempts at bridging the housing deficit by both the public and private sector in the country.

    To experts and other stakeholders in the real estate and construction industry, these studies represent a timely warning for the country’s built environment, especially with regards to providing affordable housing in a country where a deficit of 17 million housing exists. This fear may not be unfounded given that population explosion comes with an attendant need for housing. Stakeholders and policy makers have put Nigeria’s financial requirement to tackle the deficit at N59.5 trillion.

    A 2010 report commissioned by EFInA and Finmark Trust, titled: “Overview of Housing Finance Sector in Nigeria”, submitted that 85 per cent of the urban population live in rented accommodation, spending more than 40 per cent of their income on rent. Of these rented houses, 90 per cent are built through self financing by the owner, mainly due to lack of mortgage financing while less than five per cent of these houses have formal title registration.

    The lack of an efficient and effective mortgage financing has remained a huge albatross on the country, irrespective of the various government efforts in this direction. This is why only a tenth of the one million homes built yearly, has helped to tackle the deficit over a period of 10 years. Most of these, findings revealed, are by persons who contend with deficient financing, shoddy workmanship and poor building materials, among others.

    The low income category seem to be the most hit in Nigeria’s housing debacle. For a Nigerian aspiring to build an affordable home with about N3 million, there are enough challenges to induce headaches, which either frustrate the ambition or force the project to be abandoned. These include access to finance, which is the major source of worry; others are delays in project completion, taking between two to five years; lack of access to qualified building professionals without cut-throat charges as professional fee; mortgages focusing on the high end market; inconsistent quality of building materials; bureaucratic building approval process and the high cost of acquiring land and its tenure issues.

    A former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, acknowledged that affordable housing delivery for the low and middle income earners cannot be achieved without the provision of incentives to encourage private sector participation.

    “To build a house in Nigeria is a very expensive task due to the high cost of building materials. Affordable housing cannot, therefore, be achieved without a drastic reduction in the cost of housing construction and other associated costs, which invariably determine the selling price. Consequently, for affordability to thrive, emphasis must shift to reducing the cost of housing construction to promote access to affordable homes to the vulnerable segment of our national population,” Mrs Eyakenyihad said at a pre-summit meeting on the Nigeria housing and construction summit/expo, in 2014.

    She then called on the organised private sector, manufacturing outfits, finance houses and multilateral agencies to support the drive for affordable housing delivery.

    Eyakenyi’s call has not fallen on deaf ears, as the private sector has taken up the challenge of housing in the country. This has again made for a silver lining to appear on the horizon for Nigerians desirous of owning their affordable houses.

    For instance, Lafarge Africa has put in place an initiative, which it calls “Easy Home”, an innovative affordable housing initiative, which is already providing innovative solutions for the construction, renovation and extension of houses. The scheme is tailored to the local challenges and needs of individual home builders, including Nigerians, who already own their land and want to build. Through the initiative, LafargeHolcim Group, hopes to impact about 25 million people by 2020 and Nigeria is expected to benefit from a significant chunk of the scheme.

    Lafarge Africa Head of Affordable Housing initiative, Mr. Aurelien Boyer, explained that if the associated challenges to affordable house ownership are addressed, Nigerians could build more houses faster. This, he said, was what the firm set out to do with the Easy Home scheme. “The whole idea is to provide individuals with free technical expertise and demystify the idea of owning a home. Lafarge Africa provides free cost estimate i.e. Bill of Quantity and designs for prospective builders. We also connect them with sources of finance as well as artisans that will build at the least possible cost without compromising quality,” Boyer explained.

    The Easy Home initiative, which began three years ago, has impacted positively on over 30,000 persons across 14 states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Ondo, Benin, Osun, Nasarawa, Niger, Cross River, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abuja. Beneficiaries of the scheme include Business people, civil servants and salary earners, who have used “Easy Home’s” menu of free services to build bungalows, duplexes, self-contained apartments, shops, schools, clinics etc.

    “The demand for housing outstrips supply in the low-income segment where most live in rented houses. Presently, 5,000 households in mainly urban and peri-urban households earning N20,000 to N300,000 monthly have keyed into the Easy Home scheme. We, as Lafarge, estimates that nine million households can afford to build their property incrementally. Through Easy Home, Lafarge Africa is contributing to the reduction of the national housing deficit and helping to accommodate a large chunk of Nigeria’s population,” Boyer explained.

    A consultant architect with a leading construction firm, Mr. Richard Ibilola, has praised the initiative. Easy Home, he said, will have a very significant and positive impact on the spread of good construction practices and the deepen building and construction supervision skills in Nigeria. For him, EasyHome will make it easier for Nigerians to step on the home acquisition ladder because it is designed to take significant initial costs burden away from house owners, and at the same time boosts the development of skills in the ecosystem.

    A financial analyst with vast experience in mortgage matters, Mr. Kayode Oyedele, who explained that given the format of the initiative and having had a first hand experience of the scheme as a financial advisor to some beneficiaries, praised the initiators of the scheme. According to him, it is a delight that the Easy Home scheme is changing the perception of mortgage financing and affordable housing schemes in the country.

    “This should be encouraged. More programmes like this will happen in Nigeria only when there’s a mortgage system, which allows for the repayment of loans to acquire houses spread over 15-25 years. Such will give developers and banks an incentive to develop massive residential projects. Regulators will also find it much easier to monitor and punish builders responsible for defects,”Oyedele said.

    To many of its beneficiaries, Easy Home is a huge relief. A pharmacist, Mrs.Ejiro Foyinbo, extolled the concept. She said the provision of free technical assistance, links to trusted builders, reliable retailers and qualified artisans, which the scheme afforded her, has helped to maximise her budget.

    But this is not Lafarge Africa’sfirst intervention in affordable housing programmes. The firm, in collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD) and LAPO microfinance, have long invested N1.3 billion to provide affordable housing in the country under its “Ile Irorun” affordable housing initiative, which started in October 2013. It was the firm’s first operation launched in the frame of AFD and Lafarge partnership to improve housing conditions through microfinance in Africa.

    The “Ile Irorun”, was intended to enable low-income families to finance the construction, extension or the renovation of their houses and thereby help them improve their living conditions. In all, an estimated 3,500 Nigerians are expected to have benefitted from the programme by end of this year.

    In 2015, Lafarge Holcim also unveiled a self-contained studio-flat at its Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos office, as a model for affordable housing for the low and middle income earners. The feat served as the bedrock for the firm’s planned delivery of a 500-unit of low cost housing in Gwagwalada, Abuja. The types being provided in this scheme include two and three-bedroom flats and studio types. Its prices range from N1.5million for studio model, while others are between N4million and N6million.

    Stakeholders are convinced that the initiative is capable of bringing succour to the numerous Nigerians, who are daily losing hope of owning houses.

  • Lagos set to deliver ‘Right of Way’ for Alapere Road

    Lagos set to deliver ‘Right of Way’ for Alapere Road

    Determined to ease the traffic on Ibrahim Babangida Boulevard, at the Ketu/Mile 12 end of Ikorodu Road, the Lagos State Government has begun the recovery of conservative of Right of Way of Alapere-Agboyi-Ketu.

    The gridlock on the road, according to the state, usually originates at Alapere Junction and its contiguous roads.

    The project, which is a four-lane road of 18.6m width, inclusive of a carriageway, will see the development of Oluwakemi/Ajiboye Street with additional ingress into adjoining streets from Alapere to Agboyi. It is being developed to carry traffic from Alapere through Agboyi towards Ikorodu. The project is a follow up to the first phase of the Alapere layby, constructed to ease traffic off the major road into Alapere.

    Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Wasiu Anifowoshe, in a statement said the Right of Way project began with the marking of affected buildings.

    The statement indicated that the owners of affected structures had been engaged and notified as well as given enough time to remove their wares and salvage their property before the  commencement of the operation.

    The statement, attributed to Anifowoshe, read in part: “We run an all inclusive government and do not embark on any removal of structure without first obtaining the buy-in of the affected people and communities through the engagement of stakeholders in interactive meetings. Some weeks ago, the state government embarked on a stakeholders’ meeting with the Alapere -Agboyi-Ketu community and interestingly, they embraced the idea, which led to this development.We know what it takes to put up a structure. So, we have planned this project and pledged minimal removal. It is all in the overriding public interest and the economic growth and development of the community and Lagos State as a whole.”

  • Ease of doing business: Land Bureau rejigs process

    Ease of doing business: Land Bureau rejigs process

    Worried by the country’s low ranking on the “ease of doing business” index, and the desire to improve on same, the Lagos State Lands Bureau has commenced the review of its systems and policies. This will entrench a one-stop shop to facilitate unhindered and secured access to all factors of production—land, capital, labour and entrepreneurship.

    Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule, while speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the state, noted that there is utmost need for Lagos to automate its land administration process and create a system where land titles will be secured, guaranteed and easy to obtain.

    Mrs. Onabule explained that this has made the bureau to initiate plans to collapse its workflow interface with customers in all its directorates into four segments. They are: submission of application, collection of Demand Notice for payment by applicants, submission of revenue receipt, and collection of registered title documents.

    “We have redesigned the layout of the Land Registry to ensure flow of processes and transactions, which will lead to reduced turn-around-time (TAT),” she said.

    The process, Onabule further explained, culminated into reducing the of number of units within the Land Registry from 11 to three. She added that the requirement for a sworn affidavit prior to conducting “Title Search” at the Registry has also been cancelled to make the process faster and less cumbersome.

    Lands Bureau Permanent Secretary, Mr. Bode Agoro,  who spoke earlier at the occasion, observed  that registering of property, amongst others, is one of the priority areas for business reforms. Lagos State, he said, is a key determinant for improving Nigeria’s rating on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.

    “As a responsive government, we understand and appreciate the importance of impactful reforms that would ease the registration of property, which will invariably improve Nigeria’s rating on the World Banks’s Ease of Doing Business Index, and our reforms are in line with this,” Agoro explained.

    On completion of the review, he noted that the initiative will revolutionalise Land Administration, not only in state, but in the country, and consequently move up the country on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index by up to 50 notches.

  • REDAN blames building collapse on lack of professionalism

    Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), South-West zone Chairman, Mr. Taiwo Ogunbodede, has condemned the series of building collapse in Lagos State. According to him, they are caused by action, inaction, negligence and lack of professionalism. REDAN, he explained, will always stand for and advocate standard, ethics and structure, and will not support any short-cut in the building process.

    Ogunbodede, while commiserating with the families of victims in the various building collapse incidents and the state, however advised builders and developers to adhere strictly to rules and guidelines laid down for construction and development process.

    According to him, one of the major causes of building collapse is the failure of builders or developers to stick strictly to the right quantity and quality of building materials. Besides, he admonished that the appropriate human resources should be deployed to do construction works, adding that only professionals and certified engineers should be contracted in any building projects.

    The REDAN Southwest boss advocated that quacks and non-building professional should not be used on any building projects, and contractors should ensure constant and adequate education and professional development by upgrading their skills and knowledge. This category of professionals, he advised, should ensure that their designs are reviewed and approved by the appropriate authorities before commencing any major building project, and should desist from the habit of not engaging the services of qualified building engineers.

    Ogunbodede rued the lackadaisical attitude of some building contractors, which he said may continue to pose problems in the construction industry if not properly dealt with .

    According to him, property owners and developers should ensure that they put in place a proper maintenance schedule for their buildings as this will make such a building remain in perfect condition.  “Proper maintenance culture must be cultivated for the avoidance of building collapse as even the best constructed buildings needs to be maintained properly,” he said.

    He added that the absence of a National Building Code (NBC) may have been responsible for the reccurrence of building collapse, hence, the urgent need for the passing the NBC into law. This, he said, will regulate and stop the use of non-professionals and quacks in the building and construction industry.

    “The National Building Code regulates the conduct and operations of professionals and stakeholders in the construction industry,” he argued.

    Ogunbodede also disassociated REDAN and its members from all building collapsed cases, calling on Lagos State to ensure a close and strict monitoring of all ongoing projects in the state. He also called for the sanctioning of any developer, builder or landlord, associated with any form of building collapse.

  • Developer rues downturn, unveils multi-million naira properties

    Developer rues downturn, unveils multi-million naira properties

    The Managing Director, OMAIS Investments Nigeria Limited, a firm of estate developers, Chief Omochiere Aisagbonhi, has lamented the downturn in the economy and its effect of the real estate business in the country.

    Aisagbonhi, who noted that governments of other countries  give genuine business men interest free loans and bail outs to ensure that they continue in business, regretted that it has been  the opposite in Nigeria where government stifle and suffocate small businesses with taxes.

    He lamented that his company,   because of economic downturn, has retrenched over 78 per cent of its members of staff and shrunk its operations to about 10 per cent. “Government is talking about security issues, yet people are daily losing their means of livelihood to bad policies,” he lamented.

    His firm, he said, borrowed money at 30 per cent interest rate, and wondered how it can break even. According to him, N100 million was borrowed in 2014  from a bank and has incurred N90 million as interest on the loan, wondering how long the company can keep afloat while operating at 10 per cent capacity utilisation.

    Aisagbonhi, who spoke at the unveiling of his firm’s latest feat in the real estate sector, called on the government to come out with robust policies to help businesses and address the problem of multiple taxation. While specifically mentioning the difficulties associated with procuring approval in land documents and ownership transfers, he advised government to monitor its officials in sensitive ministries and parastatals.

    Top on the list of the now available properties is the estate in Agungi, Lekki, in Lagos. The estate, comprising terraces, which sit on 2, 600 square meters, is located behind Shoprite and French Colony. The spacious property is made of eight units of four-bedroom terrace with Boys Quarters.

    Aisagbonhi listed some of the distinct facilities in the Agungi terraces to include swimming pool, playground for children and recreation. He said no other estate in the axis has such generous space and competitive facility at modest price of N60 million per unit.

    Aisagbonhi said the recession, which seriously hit the sector, had eaten deep into his company’s bottom line. He, however, said he remained to provide exquisite residential apartments for middle to high income areas in Lagos and beyond, adding that he has provided mortgage facilities for between 30 to 35 per cent to prospective clients to enable them move into their apartment while they continue with their monthly mortgage plan.

    The developer, in a chat  said, his company’s semi-detached duplexes in Gbagada comprises two units 4-bedroom semi-detached duplexes with one room boys’ quarter goes for a modest price of N55 million each. This, according to him, has between 6 -18 months mortgage to enable prospective subscribers have part of the tastefully furnished upscale residential buildings.

    According to him, the third apartment, a 10-unit super luxury apartments at Shonibare Estate, Maryland, is one of the most secured areas in Lagos, especially with security being an issue in the city.

    The apartments, he said, have fitted kitchen, stainless steel appliances, washing machine, 24-hour security service, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), electric fence, automated alarm system, water borehole, among others.

  • ‘Keep off collapsed building sites’

    The Lagos State Government has warned the public to stay away from collapsed building sites until tests are concluded to determine their causes.

    At a meeting with five newly posted divisional heads and monitoring officers of the agency, the state Building Control Agency (LASBCA) General Manager, Mr. Nurudeen Shodeinde, said collapsed building sites are not safe for habitation until soil tests are done to determine the extent of the damage and pressure on such land.

    He regretted that even after such sites were sealed, people turned round to break the seal and restart illegal construction or renovation.

    Shodeinde said henceforth, the agency will deal with unscrupulous elements that violated the state Building Control Laws.

    According to him, the era of disregard for the state’s laws on building construction was over. He added that before any development was done, all building permits must be obtained, including testing of building materials before use.

    This, he said, will help prevent a reccurrence of building collapse in the state.

  • Firm promotes choice properties

    A real estate firm, Duchaza International Limited, in collaboration with Revolution Plus Properties Limited, has commenced a promotional programme on its prime properties scattered across different estates at Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki and the Lagos Free Trade Zone environ. The promo began on June 10.

    Speaking at the promo launch, the Managing Director of Duchaza International, Mrs Joy Nwosu, explained that the proximity of the estates to the LFTZ has huge benefits for prospective investors.

    She further explained that one of the prime estates, Arium Estate, is conceived to be a sophisticated and luxurious land space with fast and speedy developments, which reflect magical merging of inspiration and architecture. The estate, Nwosu said, is expected to appreciate by over 100 per cent in 12 months because of its location and excellent neighbourhood. Other locations include the Arium Estate, in the vicinity of the Lagos Business School, Ajah; Emperor Estate, Sangotedo; Abijo GRA; Nicon Town II, amongst others.

    Investors, Nwosu said, have additional benefit of choosing the payment plan that best suits their cash flow, either outright payment or instalments. All the properties are covered by recognised documents, including Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Excision, Registered Survey and Deed of Assignment.

    “This promo is part of our modest contribution to the growth of the economy by making these properties available to Nigerians at a highly subsidised, affordable and suitable payment plan. Price range is from N700, 000 to N5 million per plot,” Nwosu said.

  • Ogun to give priority to indigenous contractors

    Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, has said the state would consider indigenous contractors  in the award of contracts for the construction of 171 rural roads.

    In a statement made available to The Nation  by the ministry’s Head of media, Mr. Ayokunle Ewuoso, the commissioner assured that notwithstanding the preference of government for smaller indigenous firms in the execution of this project, bigger firms will not be prevented from applying for the contracts.

    ‘’Presently, there are so many contractors that are working for us, including indigenous companies. Look at the present jobs where we have requested for Bids for the construction of the 171 rural roads and 25 semi-urban roads, deliberately we are saying they should be indigenous contractors for all these rural roads. We are not stopping the big contractors from applying, we are saying let our focus be on indigenous contractors in the 171 rural roads we want to do,’’ it read.

    While reacting to the accusation that government was more concerned with the construction of Federal roads at the detriment of state roads, Adegbite noted that government had constructed several state roads across the state.

    “There is hierarchy when you are doing roads. The one that benefits most, that is the spine (major roads), are the ones you will do first. We are not claiming that government ends with this administration. Government is continuum,” the statement read.

    He assured that all the roads constructed by the government were designed to last for a minimum of 30 years, adding that the state had written the Federal Ministry of Works on the need to cede some of these roads to Ogun.

  • MOE partners LASU on environmental regeneration

    MOE partners LASU on environmental regeneration

    Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, has said the Ministry  was set to partner Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, on environmental management and sustainability through its Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (CESSED).

    Adejare made this known during a courtesy call on LASU Vice Chancellor, Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun. He was accompanied by some top ministry officials.

    According to him, it has become necessary for the academia to be involved in finding solutions to societal problems, particularly in the environment sector. He stressed that LASU must be made to realise the vision of its founders, which was to profer solutions to problems in the society.

    “The gown had driven development in notable places like Boston, Harvard and Lancaster; this obviously is not beyond us, we too can make our own LASU drive development in Lagos State,” Adejare noted, assuring that a committee would soon be set up to steer the affairs and birth of the planned partnership.

    Fagbohun, while receiving the team, explained that CESSED was conceptualised as a think- tank for the state Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) in the area of pollution control and management, and that the centre would be more willing to fulfil that vision now that the Ministry of the Environment was offering the partnership.

    He, therefore, called for a major environmental summit to kick start the relationship, stressing that he could not wait to see students becoming consistent advocates of various laudable initiatives of state in environmental management.