The Chief Executive officer of leading indigenous real estate firm, Afriland Properties PLC, Uzo Oshogwe has declared that Government at all levels have critical roles to play in significantly reducing the housing deficit in the country.
Uzo who spoke at the 2021 edition of the Lagos Real Estate Fest held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, stated that whilst it was not a task left entirely to the Government, they still had key roles to play in reducing the steadily rising housing deficit in the country, pointing out key areas where Government intervention and initiatives could help make an impact in the Real Estate Sector. She said, “The Government needs to get more involved to make housing more affordable. When we talk about public-private partnerships or strategic joint venture projects with the private sector, there is a lot they can do. As they say, the government owns all the land; at least, give us the land and it will greatly reduce the high cost of development. Foreign exchange rates are not very favorable now so there should be areas where we can have some subsidies to make affordability a reality.”
She continued, “There is a need for housing but when developers finish building under the current conditions how many people can afford it? How many people within the middle and lower socio-economic class can afford these houses? This is one place where the government needs to work with the private sector to bridge this gap”.
The Afriland Properties boss who was speaking on “Attracting and Retaining investment in Nigeria’s real estate market, equally stated that creating enabling investor-friendly policies would provide a tremendous boost to the Real Estate Sector. “There needs to be some form of standardization in place as this will create confidence among our clients and investors. With standardization in the industry, you trust who you are going to buy a house from. Equally, If I am to give my property to an agent or property manager for rental purposes, I should be able to trust that the agent would carry out the right level of due diligence on the prospective tenants. This will equally help the industry gather vital customer data that relates to real estate transaction history.” she ended.