By NAN
The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said it would clamp down on fraudulent activities in the housing sector to ensure sanity in the industry.
Ms Toke Benson- Awoyinka, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Housing, made this known at an event organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) Construction and Real Estate Group in Lagos.
Benson- Awoyinka said the move was in line with the Lagos fiscal responsibility measure to ensure that all stakeholders in the housing value chain were beneficiaries of their transactions.
“This year is going to be different as Lagos is going to tackle fraudulent activities in the real estate sector this year.
“We will name and shame when the time comes because the returns on investment is unbelievable so there’s no reason to defraud people,’’ she said.
She said that the state would in a few weeks conclude the foreclosure clause in its mortgage law to build investors’ confidence and provide access to investments when there’s a default in the mortgage payment.
Benson-Awoyinka stressed the need for land buyers to do their due diligence and engage the services of a lawyer when purchasing properties to avoid cases of fraudulent land allocation.
“There’s no clear title of land in Lagos called ‘excision in process’, as such land has not to be allocated.
“You must search at the land bureau to ensure that a property has a clean title before you begin any transaction to avoid being scammed,” she said.
She expressed the state’s readiness to partner with the Federal Government to provide more affordable housing.
According to Mr Hakeem Ogunniran, the Chairman NBCC Construction and Real Estate Group, the sector is expected to thrive off the back of some strong macroeconomic fundamentals in 2022.
He described the year as one of regulatory and compliance intensity with the inauguration of certificate of fitness and purpose for new and existing buildings by the state.
Ogunniran stressed the need to move from building to manufacturing houses via an industrialisation process for better efficiency, reduced cost and overall effectiveness in the sector.
“This year would see resolute enforcement of master city plans, the proliferation of real estate players among many attempts to regulate and sanitise the sector.
“There would be heightened risks about title uncertainty and now is the time to preserve the sanctity of assets and also engage Public-Private Partnership to create more housing in the state,’’ he said.
Mr Opeyemi Agbaje, Founder, RTC Advisory Services Ltd., listed the real estate and construction sector, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, Agriculture, Fintech as sectors with good economic footprints to watch out for in 2022.
He, however, noted that risks with unorthodox policies, vulnerability to global disruptions, debts, inflation were trends that may affect economic development.
He noted that issues in the real estate sector were centered on high inflation and interest rates, difficult regulatory requirements, stressful judicial system, and high poverty index.
“The real estate sector appears to finally be in recovery mode after a long drawn contraction and may now represent an opportunity for investors.
“There’s, however, the need for the perfect intersection between monetary and fiscal policies, with macroeconomic fundamentals to drive the economy to growth,’’Agbaje said.
Also speaking, Mr Kehinde Ogundimu, the Managing Director, Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company, said discussions were ongoing with the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
Ogundimu said aim was to enable people to access part of their pension contributions to use as down payment in equity to get affordable housing.
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