By Okwy Iroegbu Chikezie
Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on Housing, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka has appealed to real estate practitioners and the general public to join hands with the State Government to eliminate unethical practices in the real estate sector. She said that government is bent on ensuring that perpetrators of dubious acts in the sector are dealt with in accordance with relevant provisions of the State Law.
Toke-Benson spoke during the Alphacrux Real Estate Outlook Conference held virtually on Thursday where she x-rayed the efforts and activities of the State Government in the real estate sector.
Alphacrux Real Estate Outlook Conference is an annual gathering of industry experts, developers, economists, and investors in the built industry, to network, learn, share knowledge and discuss the business year.
The Special Adviser who spoke as a Special Guest maintained that if integrity is restored to the real estate profession, more international investments would be attracted to the country and would be beneficial to many individuals, the State and Nigeria as a whole.
She insisted that the Real Estate Market must be transparent for investors to be willing to invest their resources, stressing that this is what Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority, LASRERA, and the State Government stand for, stressing that the economic growth of any nation depends on the combined efforts of various individual business ventures, institutions, public and private bodies.
She appreciated the organiser of the event for recognising the efforts of the state in curbing fraud in the sector.
Speaking on the relationship between LASRERA and the regulatory bodies in the real estate business, Mrs. Benson-Awoyinka explained that “ I am always quick to make this clarification at every gathering that involves relevant stakeholders in the built environment sector especially practitioners in the Real Estate sector that LASRERA was not established to assume the position of the existing professional regulatory bodies for Real Estate practitioners, rather, the agency is to work together hand in hand with existing regulatory bodies to sanitize the sector together”, she stated.
Furthermore, she said LASRERA came into being as a response to perceived and reported cases of fraudulent practices in the real estate sector. According to her constitutionally, government exists for the purpose of protecting lives and property; it would be insensitive on the part of government to have ignored thousands of Lagosians who have at one time or the other fell culprit of these fraudulent practices she added.
While saying that real estate remains investment Asset of choice, the Special Adviser warned that buyers should be careful where they are investing their money in order to avoid unpalatable stories.
While citing the different initiatives from LASRERA, Mrs. Benson-Awoyinka expressed the hope that reported cases of fraudulent practices will be curtailed and genuine Practitioners will be able to render good services to the public seeking for real estate properties within the State.
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