NAN-HE-4
Construction
By Lilian Chukwu,
Lagos, June 8, 2017 (NAN) A property consultant, Mr Olaide Afolabi, on Thursday urged the three tiers of government to restructure the construction industry to make it vibrant and attractive to local and foreign investors.
Afolabi, who is the President, Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that the industry was growing poorly because of high cost of investing in real estate.
Afolabi said that some of the challenges facing the industry were cumbersome and time-consuming processes for land acquisition, insecure land title and infrastructural deficiency.
The ATOPCON president said that the under-developed mortgage market, among others, also contributed to the investment challenges facing the industry.
He said generally, the cost of doing business in Nigeria was too high considering the challenges that could be encountered.
“The cost of investing in the building construction or real estate industry particularly is too high; that is why investors are scared from investing.
“There are so many protocols and requirements before a developer is certified by the government and other relevant bodies to embark on housing development projects.
“For instance, after a developer buys a land and makes the necessary payments including settling the land speculators (Omo oniles), he has to obtain the Certificate of Ownership (C of O).
“Development permits, the building approval plan and other necessary documents from responsible government authorities.
“The downside to this is that obtaining each of these documents entails cumbersome processes, consumes time and money.
“There is no effective credit or mortgage facilities in place to encourage the investors,’’ the consultant said.
Afolabi said that the aforementioned challenges were the preliminary aspects before the developer could be certified to start the building project.
He decried the current high cost of building materials confronting real estate owners, saying that the situation had discouraged many investors from investing in the property industry.
“These are the reasons for the persistent rise in the cost of rent.
“To escape some of these challenges, many developers have resolved to do their building construction works at night, weekends and public holidays when no regulatory authority can see them,’’ Afolabi said.
He urged the control authorities to monitor building construction activities effectively, as such unauthorised and hasty construction works were the root cause of building collapse.
Afolabi said that the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and other building regulatory authorities should be more vigilant and proactive in the discharge of their duties. (NAN)
LUC/COF/GOK
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Olagoke Olatoye