The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Housing

  • FHA, FMBN partner for better housing delivery

    FHA, FMBN partner for better housing delivery

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) are to work together to boost housing delivery.

    Following a meeting in Abuja, they agreed to explore the possibility of using the National Housing Fund (NHF) being administered by FMBN to create mortgage for subscribers to FHA houses in the country’s six geopolitical zones.

    FHA Managing Director Prof Mohammed Al-Amin and FMBN Acting Managing Director Mr Richard Esin met in Abuja last month  at the instance of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

    A statement issued at the end of the meeting, said FHA and FMBN acknowledged that as major players in the housing equation,  they have roles to play in driving the new initiative. The agencies said it was imperative for them to build sustained synergy and collaboration in playing their roles under the new national housing progamme.

    Al-Amin spoke of regulatory challenges, promising that stakeholders would make efforts to overcome them. An enabling environment is to be created to encourage foreign investors to participate in the development of new towns around the country. A joint committee of FHA and FMBN officials will drive the process.

    The committee will also consider the viability of the Northeast Intervention Housing Programme proposed by FHA and forward its recommendations to Al-Amin and Esin respectively.

    Also included in the committee’s task is the exploration of areas for further assistance by FMBN to FHA Mortgage Bank Limited- a subsidiary of FHA, to enable it participate in the integrated housing scheme.

    Both Al-Amin and Esin commended President Muhammadu Buhari for initiating the one million housing units per year programme. They expressed optimism that the programme, if diligently implemented, would facilitate the recovery of the economy, frontally tackle the nation’s housing deficit, create employment for the youths and improve the economic well-being of the people.

    For stakeholders in the industry, the collaboration of the two agencies saddled with housing provision is a welcome development. This is because for several years, the expected synergy has not existed between both organisations, which according to observers, is partly responsible for the huge gap in the nation’s housing requirement.

    The two chief executives decided that their meetings would hold regularly “in order to strengthen their collaboration towards improved housing delivery in the country”, the statement read.

    To strengthen this development, the FMBN will also collaborate with the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) towards strengthening the secondary mortgage market of the industry. This is part of the refocusing of the apex mortgage banker’s business model aimed at addressing the lower end of the income ladder, which aims at the mass market for housing delivery.

    Esin, while welcoming the NMRC Chief Executive, Professor Charles Inyangete, to his office, said the aim would be achieved by taking advantage of the concessionary (below-market) mortgage loan terms under the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme being managed by the Bank.

    Inyangete observed that while both firms serve different market segments, the challenges faced are common to the Nigerian Housing/Mortgage sector. This, he noted, requires both institutions adopting a collaborative and complementary approach to addressing such issues. He, therefore, expressed hope of more positive interaction and the need for synergy between the institutions, which are set up to address various income segments of the Nigerian mortgage market.

    Areas for a common synergy identified by both parties include the review of land and property registry practices for time and cost-effectiveness; the enactment of a foreclosure law to mitigate mortgage lending risks; the introduction of industry-wide uniform underwriting standards and the development of a data collection system for the Nigerian mortgage market. A committee is to be set up to further explore and deepen the new relationship in line with the identified areas of collaboration.

  • How £2.4m housing scam got Nigerians into UK jails

    How £2.4m housing scam got Nigerians into UK jails

    A housing officer who took a £2,000 backhander every time she processed a fake homelessness claim for illegal immigrants as part of a £2.4million council scam has been jailed.

    Trudy Ali-Balogun, 55, of Stratford, east London, abused her role as a £25,000 a year housing officer at Southwark Council to help process 24 bogus homelessness claims.

    She was paid a £2,000 bribe for each application she approved and used the money to treat herself to holidays around the world, Inner London Crown Court heard.

    Ali-Balogun approved false birth certificates for children, who never existed, as well as made-up wage slips, bank statements and fake foreign passports.

    She was jailed for five years while fraudsters Bayo Awotiwon, 47, and Adeyemi Oyedele, 48, were given five months each.

    Kudiratu Falana, 60, was handed a five month jail sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

    Joseph Olaiya, 53, was sentenced to six months suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

    Their trial was part of the wider investigation known as Operation Bronze which has been running since 2011 and has so far yielded more than 30 convictions.

    Ibrahim Bundu, a former homeless housing case worker, was previously jailed at Woolwich Crown Court for processing false homeless housing applications in return for backhanders.

    He is currently serving a six year sentence after failing to pay back the £100,000 ordered by the courts.

    Ali-Balogun, who studied criminology at university, was processing bogus applications while working alongside Bundu from November 2003 until her suspension in April 2005.

    Many of the applicants she helped within the Nigerian community were in the country illegally.

    Ali-Balogun also processed false birth certificates for children to help the fraudsters jump the housing queue.

    Michael Goodwin, prosecuting, explained that the fraud cost the council about £2.4million and left genuine homeless people without a roof above their heads.

    “She sought to exploit and capitalise in the weaknesses and procedures which were clearly in place at the time. Her misconduct represents an abuse of trust placed in her by the local authority.”

    Mr Goodwin explained that the case worker was paid at least £20,000 in backhanders and used the bungs to fund trips abroad.

    “Part of her function and responsibility was to protect the public purse by ensuring only those in need of homeless housing were granted it.

    “She acted for financial reward and that would have been paid to her directly by applicants or by third party fixers who were working in the community.”

    The prosecutor explained that the offences took place when there was a significant shortage of housing available, something which remains the case.

    Taxpayers’ money was being used to subsidise housing for fraudsters who claimed to be homeless despite owning other properties.

    Ali-Balogun was said to have been responsible for 24 applications which she knew contained forged signatures as part of the ‘sophisticated’ arrangement.

    “Only she could have known that it was not being signed as it should have been,” said Mr Goodwin.

    Bogus National Insurance numbers belonging to genuine people were also used along with ‘fake Home Office vignettes’ granting indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

    In some cases the Home Office had no records of the applicants ever existing in the country.

    Mr Goodwin said at least 20 properties were occupied by tenants who were not entitled to them.

    Some of the defendants even used ‘bogus’ birth certificates in order to pretend they had children which would speed up their applications, among other benefits.

    “If they had two or three children they were entitled to bigger properties which the council had to find from their waiting list.”

    Four applicants – including Falana – ended up buying the properties at a reduced price as a result of their deception using the Government’s ‘Right to Buy’ scheme.

    These properties are now likely to be subject to county court proceedings to determine whether they should be handed back.

    Oyedele, a former assistant to the Nigerian High Commissioner, is refusing to leave his Bermondsey flat, the court heard.

    Falana obtained a four bedroom property in central London after previously being rejected for homeless housing due to her children not having indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

    She bought it in 2007 at a £60,000 discount under the Right to Buy scheme.

    Olaiya used three ‘bogus’ children to help further his claim along with a fake passport when he was unlawfully in the country after previously been deported.

    Oyedele was found to have ‘considerable funds’ in his bank account and did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK and no evidence was ever found that he had any real children.

    Awotiwon purchased a flat in Southwark, with a mortgage in 2004 for around £172,000 which she was letting out while claiming to need homeless housing.

    She received £226,000 of housing over a 12 year period and is refusing to leave.

    Mr Goodwin said she was essentially ‘a landlord while claiming to be homeless’.

    The court also heard that Ali-Balogun herself had previously applied for a council home as a result of domestic violence.

    Operation Bronze started in 2011 and was based on the review of suspicious data matches from the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI) and the Metropolitan Police Operation Amberhill.

    So far 30 fraudsters have been convicted and 41 properties have been recovered and re-let to those with a genuine need for housing.

    Ali-Balogun was found guilty of misconduct in public office.

    Awotiwon, of Southwark; Oyedele, of Bermondsey; and Falana, of Walworth, were each convicted of a single count of obtaining services by deception.

    Olaiya, of Gillingham, Kent, was found guilty of attempting to obtain services by deception.

    Jailing Ali-Balogun for five years Judge Mark Bishop said: ‘You carried out these applications in such a way to make it look like you had carried out the correct procedures.

    “Social housing, in particular in central London, is scarce. People wait in the queue for many years for council accommodation.

    “By your misconduct you reduced the housing amount of available housing stock for genuine homeless applicants.”

    When no housing was available the council had to place those looking for a home in B&B accomodation leaving the local taxpayer to foot the bill, said Judge Bishop.

    “You carried out this conduct for backhand and the jury found you were dishonest. You would not have processed any of these applications which were being made without this money.

    “It seems to me very likely that you were paid more than £20,000. You would not have done it without being paid for it. This was a very serious abuse of public trust that was placed in you.

    “You took advantage of your position as a public official. You conduct was serious and corrupt, it was not conduct for a public official to engage in.”

    • Culled from Daily Mail

  • Experts canvass accurate housing data

    Given the need to diversify the economy, experts have urged the government and  the citizenry to take advantage of opportunities in the real estate market.

    Last week at the Didi Museum, Victoria Island, Lagos, stakeholders  stressed the need to create a localised supply chain and accessible data to bridge housing deficits.

    President of the Roland Igninoba Real Foundation for Housing and Development, Mr Roland Igbinoba said his organisation was making effort to provide accurate analysis of the Nigerian real estate market to attract foreign and local investors, among other benefits.

    He said: “We thought about how we could provide data to the market, so we dimensioned the market, using Lagos as our case study. Our research covers mass housing, low income housing, medium, luxury and residential housing. Lagos was divided into clusters and analysed in terms of real estate, including their economic power. We broke the analysis down for easy read and with many pictures to break the barrier of too much text.”

    Igninoba said the report, the second edition since the first in 2009, provides easy access to all facts, data, statistics and analysis on the key players in the real estate market, as well as closing the gap between investors and housing deficits. He noted that Lagos, with growing housing deficit of about 2.4 million, needs to provide housing in areas where it is needed like on the Mainland.

    Chairman of the foundation, Mr. Newton Jibunnoh, said the report would help Nigeria ascertain her housing progress and predict same as far as 30 years from now. This, he said, is important to combat housing deficits in states with immigration explosion like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, which would benefit the economy at large.

    Said he: “The report is not just good for developers, but the entire housing market, including the academia. It is good for lecturers to teach and students to study, because everything is referenced. The country is hungry for investors but lacks data. Data gathering is a step in the right direction. Real estate sector is very vibrant in Nigeria, but when investors can’t acquire information, they go to their country’s embassies in Nigeria to ask for the information. It’s time for us to do this ourselves.”

    Chairman, Eko Atlantic, Mr. Ronald Chagaoury expressed the minds of foreign investors concerning Nigeria’s housing market.

  • Experts canvass accurate housing data

    Given the need to diversify the economy, experts have urged the government and  the citizenry to take advantage of opportunities in the real estate market.

    Last week at the Didi Museum, Victoria Island, Lagos, stakeholders  stressed the need to create a localised supply chain and accessible data to bridge housing deficits.

    President of the Roland Igninoba Real Foundation for Housing and Development, Mr Roland Igbinoba said his organisation was making effort to provide accurate analysis of the Nigerian real estate market to attract foreign and local investors, among other benefits.

    He said: “We thought about how we could provide data to the market, so we dimensioned the market, using Lagos as our case study. Our research covers mass housing, low income housing, medium, luxury and residential housing. Lagos was divided into clusters and analysed in terms of real estate, including their economic power. We broke the analysis down for easy read and with many pictures to break the barrier of too much text.”

    Igninoba said the report, the second edition since the first in 2009, provides easy access to all facts, data, statistics and analysis on the key players in the real estate market, as well as closing the gap between investors and housing deficits. He noted that Lagos, with growing housing deficit of about 2.4 million, needs to provide housing in areas where it is needed like on the Mainland.

    Chairman of the foundation, Mr. Newton Jibunnoh, said the report would help Nigeria ascertain her housing progress and predict same as far as 30 years from now. This, he said, is important to combat housing deficits in states with immigration explosion like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, which would benefit the economy at large.

    Said he: “The report is not just good for developers, but the entire housing market, including the academia. It is good for lecturers to teach and students to study, because everything is referenced. The country is hungry for investors but lacks data. Data gathering is a step in the right direction. Real estate sector is very vibrant in Nigeria, but when investors can’t acquire information, they go to their country’s embassies in Nigeria to ask for the information. It’s time for us to do this ourselves.”

    Chairman, Eko Atlantic, Mr. Ronald Chagaoury expressed the minds of foreign investors concerning Nigeria’s housing market.

    “A lot has changed from 2009 till now. Before, Nigeria used to be a mysterious place with hardly any information or place on its real estate statistics, coupled with all the negative media reports. So many investors shied away from Africa. But Nigeria is beating these challenges with information gradually circulating with facts, figures, statistics, Google now has some statistics and these are really good for investment.”

    A sponsor of the report, Mr. Tayo Odunsi, Team Lead at Northcourt real estate said:”The first report in 2009 covered every developer in Lagos. So, this revised edition with being in a lot of interest and activities. Real estate in Nigeria has grown big. There are now hospitality industries, formal retail spaces, facilities managers, among others. All these have to be locally documented through this report. Google will get access to it and that makes for easy reach.”

    Another sponsor, Mr. Olusesan Olaoye of Alpha Mead Development Company urged facilities managers to key into the project because of the several inherent advantages such as its ability to attract foreign investors which would naturally lead to partnership with local facilities managers.

     

  • ‘Ours is economic housing, not social’

    ‘Ours is economic housing, not social’

     Lagos State Government, faced with a deficit of 2.55 million housing units, is introducing a Rent-to-Own scheme to bridge the gap. In this interview with MUYIWA LUCAS, the Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, speaks on the administration’s almost one year in office, the efforts and plans to tackle the deficit. 

    Almost one year in office, what would you say you have brought to the table in terms of housing for Lagosians?

    Government is a continuum. The first governor of the state, Brigadier-Genral Mobolaji Johnson, who started with policies, such as the tenancy laws, also built houses under various home ownership schemes. Alhaji Lateef Jakande’s administration set out to build 200,000 housing units. But, after four years, he was able to do his bit.

    Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came in 1999 and did his own bit. So, in the beginning of democracy in 1999, Tinubu came up with various policies; he noted that the government alone could not bridge the housing deficit in the state. He introduced the middle and low income earners scheme and also for higher end earners. Babatunde Raji Fashola came up with the LagosHOMS – a policy whereby first-time home buyers will have their own homes; it is the first mortgage scheme to be introduced by any government. Now, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration has come up with the Rent-To-Own (RTO) and the Master Craftsmen policies. This is because we realised that the productivity of our people has to be enhanced. At the same time, we are looking at various homes; we are working with the private sector so that we can have a robust housing policy.

    The Rent-To-Own scheme is a novel idea. What does it entail?

    When this administration came on board, we were bombarded with a barrage of complaints by people, saying they could not afford the government’s housing scheme. So, we conducted a study; and from the report we gathered that there is a need to come up with a more- inclusive housing policy like the RTO. So, for a consenting home owner, you will deposit five percent of the cost, and the interest rate is six per cent, with 10 years’repayment period, after which the house becomes fully yours.The conditions that qualify a person for the scheme is that you must be a Lagos resident; be tax compliant; must have the ability to pay, that is be in the informal sector or in paid employment. If you have a source of income then you have the opportunity of owning a home in Lagos State. It is also part of the financial inclusion of the government. Its is a win-win situation.

    What happens to a person that loses his job, say six years after keying into the scheme?

    Yes, that is very germane. Security of job is very important. What we plan to do in this situation is to hedge the percent of job loss. The risk sharing part of the RTO is very important. As the government, mortgagor and mortgagee, we all have to bear risk. That is why insurance companies have to come in and guarantee payment for say six months in the event of a job loss. We believe that if we can hedge our risks, then it will be better. The government must be able to position itself to support of subsidise if there is any default in anyway like for three months. Housing is not a pair of shoes that you just go to the market to procure; it has to be well planned for the long term. There must be opportunities for people to have access to mortgage. The entire value chain is being looked into and its going to be very robust.

    Are you reviewing the conditions for getting LagosHOMS for the RTO scheme?

    The only issue there is tax compliant. The other is, we have considered our people in the diaspora. And for these category of people, we have opportunity for them to buy outrightly. It’s not possible for someone in the diaspora to do RTO. We have opened it up for them. We are in 32 sites, and by the end of this year, 2, 663 housing units will be ready for off take.

    You plan to create 50 housing units in each local government area. How do you intend to achieve this?

    That is the new policy of this government. We believe we must collaborate with the local governments as it is being done in other countries. The state government cannot boast of owning all the land; the space for housing development is going to be a major challenge.

    We cannot say we want to have 200 housing units in a place like the Lagos Island, for instance. Wse must find a way around it. With 50 units in LGs and our one – in 16 model that is coming, it means we just need like three blocks to development and won’t need so much land. Because of the problem of productivity of workforce, we want people to live near where they work; while we are working on other social infrastructure. With that, we will be able to have growth.

    What will be the segmentation of this houses, vis-à-vis pricing and location?

    There is a need for us to have new settlement, new towns and also economic activities across. If you want to reduce rural-urban migration, you must be able to stimulate economic activities in such rural areas and their environs. For instance, look at Epe; it is close to Lekki where we have the free trade zone, so people can conveniently live in Epe and live in Lekki, which is just about 10 minutes’ drive.

    Land is static, yet everybody wants to have a plot of land. Is it possible to have four people share a plot of land due to the shrinking land size in Lagos?

    The self-built models is everywhere now and it is a challenge. Lagos is just 3,750 square kilometres. Now we know we have to go vertical construction way in other to accommodate more houses and people. In our estates, we encourage four floors and as physical infrastructural facilities improves, we can move up to six floors. Our physical planning regime will change. When that time comes, the Physical Planning ministry will adjust the policy of government where it says you cannot go above four floors in certain areas. Rapid population is a major concern- the growth rate is 2.8 percent; but is housing growth rate commensurate with population growth rate? The answer is NO; so we have to find a way of making the hinterland liveable, making economic activities expand to those places so that it will help in reducing rural urban migration.

    It is believed that there is a 17 million housing deficit in the country. Lagos accounts for 2.55 million of this figure. What is your target?

    The World Bank told us there is over 16 million deficit in Nigeria. The last time we checked, 600, 000 people come into Lagos yearly. It is for the government to say can we do the 2.5 million houses in four years? Yes, but it is a challenge. Where is the space? Is it the same traditional way of construction? Are we going to go into technology whereby we will be manufacturing homes? Our job is to build affordable homes so we have to also look at the cost. As the government, I cannot come out and say my one bedroom unit of a house is N10 million. We have to look at the cost of a unit. But if you are looking at the high end homes, then no problem because if that is what you choose you should be ready to pay for the extras. But for the homes government wants to build which is to make it practical, we will have to continue to subsidise it – 25 per cent subsidy is already in those our LagosHOMS – being the cost of infrastructure and land already deducted. Our prices are competitive. But on the 2.5 million houses in five years, the idea is this: the deficit we have now is 1.6 million; but for us to close the gap to forestall more deficit, we must be able to say lets put the deficit at 2.5 million. But with the way we build, only the government funding with tax payers money, you and I know that it will be difficult because there are too many pressing needs for the state. Technology and private sector must come in to make this possible. We need primary and secondary mortgage banks to partner with us so that we can look and the mortgage and construction finance aspect of building.

    How do you regulate prices if private investors build for the people to buy?

    Well we have our own quantity surveyors and other experts. If government provides land, our experts are able to determine what the cost of building will be. So we can fix a price for the sale, and if a private developer cannot sell at that price then we are not in business. We already have primary mortgage banks that will take care of people in the formal sector. The primary mortgage banks will have to go for refinancing. We are already working with the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC); we are looking at the MoU and others before we finalise.

    In all of these, how does this key into social housing? What is the policy thrust of your administration on social housing?

    In those climes where social housing are being implemented, like the USA, UK and other European countries, they have developed a template. Their financial institutions are robust. Once you are working, the mortgage banks there would fund your initial deposit of 10 per cent while another one will fund the remaining 90 per cent. But here, we are not there yet. So government must come up with a policy that would be very fool proof whereby the entire value chain of housing will be taken care of. We call ours “economic housing”, not social and it is just a matter of semantics. The social housing scheme in Europe started in 1948 after the second world war. In England, about 426, 000 units social houses were built using the various housing associations and government; but as at 2013, it has dropped to less than 30, 000.  This is because the cost of financing is huge and also the global financial crises. New York housing city authority that we try to benchmark our housing development policy with used to call it welfare housing. It is called Section 8 which provides that government pays or subsidise considerably vulnerable people in the society- like the war veterans, elderly people and those that have proof that they cannot afford to pay rent. This is less than 20, 000 in some parts in New York. So because of the global economic crises, it may not really encourage social housing. As a government we have to come up with sustainable policies.

  • Surveyors urge govt to reform housing programme

    The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) President, Dr. Patunola-Ajayi, has urged the Federal Government to reform its programme on housing. He stated that there are people that cannot afford to buy houses, but if built for the masses and are affordable, they can try to access it.

    PatunolaAjayi, who made the call at the Institution’s 46th Annual General Meeting in Abuja, said by the time the government reforms its programme on housing, there will be enough housing for the masses.

    He said: “The government should inject money into housing and power, any money available now should be injected into these projects, they are projects that will generate quick employment for all cadres.

    “The situation in the country presently is really tense, the people need a programme that will give relief to the people. By the time some of these projects are kicked off, activities will start and by the end of the year when we are accessing we will see that things have really improved.

    “If there is power supply we can boost that 50 per cent of our national problems are solved. Money available right now should be injected into housing and power.”

    Patunola-Ajayi said the beauty of housing projects is job generation for all cadres. Government, he said should take quick action to ensure that projects are initiated, adding that by the time these projects kick off, there would be a relief in all sectors.

    According to him, the situation now is tense, adding that there is a need for a programme that will give relief so that at the end of the year, it will be obvious that things have taken a new turn.

    “On the government’s activities on road, power and housing, they are still working on the budget, when I saw the proposed budget, it is obvious that there is need for a re-think on putting more into capital project, especially on works and housing, the government should move in any  way they can to produce houses for rent,”he said.

    Patunola-Ajayi said the government had not started work, as the budget has not been sorted out, and until money is allocated and contractors are mobilised, nothing would be kick started.

  • Lagos Housing Fair begins April 25

    The 15th Lagos Housing Fair (LHF) begins on April 25.

    The Vice Chairman of the  LHF Committee, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, told reporters that attention would to be paid to the values and benefits in the production, application and promotion of indigenous materials of all types. He observed that at this stage of the country’s development, Nigeria should be a global leader in the export of various types of building materials.

    His reasoning is hinged on the provisions of the National Housing Policy of 2011, which has as its core goal the hastening of the development of appropriate capacities to achieve sufficiency in the production of basic building materials and components of acceptable qualities from local sources.

    “There is a need to focus attention on local content in the provision of housing, particularly now that the emphasis of the government is on the diversification of the economy,” Ogunleye said, adding that specific attention needed to be paid to the values and benefits in the production, application and promotion of indigenous materials of all types.

    The LHF will focus on the encumbrances in the channels of turning locally-made items into other products for construction purposes and wealth creation.

    Already, 85 exhibitors have signed up to participate in the fair, which will be declared open by the country’s former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. “Organisations that will exhibit their products are those that are already manufacturing local building products,” The Chairman, Planning Committee, LHF, Mrs. Abiola Williams, said.

    In its 15 years of existence, the fair has been a veritable avenue to create awareness on designs and indigenous materials in construction.

  • How to bridge housing gap, by experts

    How to bridge housing gap, by experts

    Housing shortage is not limited to the middle class. It cuts across every stratum of the society,  the Executive Director, Grenadines Homes, Mr. Adesope Adeyinka, has said.

    In an interview, he said: “When we talk about housing deficit, people actually think it is limited to the lower class of the society. It will not be fair to look at the housing deficits challenge in Nigeria from one side. The deficits actually exist among all the market segments: the top, the middle and the lower classes.’’

    in partnership with stakeholders, Adeyinka said the deficit could be  managed. Besides, through the use of modern innovative technologies, some initiatives aimed at catering for the needs of each segment of the real estate market could be executed.

    For instance, he said its parent company- Palton Morgan Holding Company, Grenadines Homes and Propertymart, is working as subsidiaries, to provide for the different classes of the market. Propertymart caters for the middle and  the lower classes, by developing affordable property, for example, that civil servants and young executives can buy.

    On the other hand, Grenadines Homes, he said, was established to provide for the housing needs of the upper class whose projects are usually in exclusive areas.

    To boost housing units in the A and B luxury and upper segment, Grenadines Homes is undertaking a new housing project, called the “Atlantic Resort”, which on completion, will add 165 residential units to the upper end of the market.

    Adeyinka said it was conceived in response to the demand for mixed-use developments driven by the rise of the middle class and a thriving business environment in Lagos state.

    “The Atlantic Resort concept is basically around live, work and play in one, beautiful environment. We are looking at a model that will achieve self-sufficiency in terms of necessary facilities that will make the residents to be productive in their respective endeavours. There will be recreational, educational, shopping and tourism facilities, among others. In other words, you can control the world from the estate. It’s already attracting foreign direct investments. The phase one alone is going to cost $150 million. It’s a project we need at a time like this,” he said.

    The Marketing Manager, Grenadines Homes, Ms. Francisca Dyegh, explained that the Atlantic Resort concept as a well-thought-out project.

    He explained: “What other companies are doing is different from what we are doing; they are selling land to developers to develop, but what we are doing in Grenadines Homes is that we are directly responding to need of people within this vicinity. Atlantic Resort is about the only mixed used development that can give you the opportunity to live, work and play in one serene, beautiful environment.’’

    The Managing Director, Brash Brands, Dubai, Kiran Gill, said her company is coming into the project to tell the story of Atlantic Resort to Nigeria in a compelling way that will attract investors locally and internationally.

    “So, we understand what the ambition and the hopes are for Grenadines Homes, what they’re planning to do with the development.  And for us at Brash, we look at how we can tell that story. To tell that story in a compelling way to consumers and to investors who are looking to buy.

    Stakeholders believe that with a growing middle class and the need to cater for their housing needs, which is projected to hit 7.6 million by 2030, the prospects for this category in terms of investment potential.

  • AfDB boosts African housing with $8.2m

    Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African finance institution supporting the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa has received a $8.2 million injection of equity by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    In a statement by the AfDB, the injection is meant to strengthen its balance sheet and help achieve its objective of providing quality affordable housing in Africa.

    “Africa’s economic landscape remains positive with promising scope for growth; Gross Domestic Product remains robust supported by multiple factors. The continent’s growing population, a growing middle class and the fastest urbanisation rate in the world are some of the factors driving increased demand for affordable houses and housing finance,” AfDB noted.

    The Managing Director, Shelter Afrique, Mr. James Mugerwa, said the equity increase is a testimony to the confidence reposed by AfDB in his firm. “The African Development Bank has sent strong signals about the seriousness of housing on the continent, and by extension, the seriousness of what we do here at Shelter Afrique. It is a welcome development but we see it as a challenge as well. This equity increase means the AfDB wants to see more, they want to see impact and scale and that is what we will be aiming for this year; impact,” Mugerwa said.

  • ‘Housing man’s most expensive acquisition’

    The real sector has been identified as the first casualty in the event of a fall in any country’s currency. This is because the sector is a highly capital intensive one. This view was expressed by the managing director of Interstate Architects Limited, Mr. Olusegun Ladega, in a chat with The Nation.

    Ladega, expressing concerns over the crashing naira against other currencies and its effect on the real estate sector, regretted that when situations of a crashing local currency persists in an economy, then most potential investors in real estate are usually compelled to make a downward review of their budget, which in the overall, takes a toll on the industry.

    “Construction has never been cheap, so when the economy gets bad, then people will naturally make some form of adjustment in order to suit their pockets. It may interest you to know that the real estate sector had for long been feeling the heat of the downward trend in the economy, except that it got more pronounced this year as a result of the drastic fall in the value of the local currency- the naira,” Ladega disclosed, adding that the most expensive acquisition of any individual is the building of his own house, no matter how simple the house may be.

    Decrying the current financial position of the country, Ladega posited that the situation should serve as a wakeup call to the government to now look beyond crude oil as the country’s major source of income. The real sector, notwithstanding its challenges, he agreed, can significantly contribute to the economy if it is properly positioned and its potentials harnessed. Indeed, the sector has had its fair share of challenges especially the spate of building collapse, and the absence of good policies like the National Building Code (NBC).

    Ladega cautioned that the absence of the NBC should not be misconstrued as the reason for the incessant building collapse being experienced across the country. Rather, he argued, every single activity that is undertaken in the process of bringing about a building in the country has regulatory body that contributes either as a regulator or policy formulator. The problem, he further said, is that failure of regulations’ enforcement has always been the bane in the industry. “When there is enforcement by the regulatory bodies assigned to monitor these developments, the incidences of collapse would be greatly reduced to the barest minimum,” he assured. This he explained can be achieved by certification of construction personnel, monitoring and inspection of buildings from conception