Imposing Monthly Rent Payment Will Not Work – Expert gives reasons.

The National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development (NCLHUD) in its bid to alleviate the rental challenges of the citizenry is making attempts to impose monthly rent payment for Nigerians. Industry experts have rather urged the governments to tackle the inherent problems inhibiting housing rather than delving into issues expected to heighten problems in the industry.

The experts, comprising estate surveyors and developers who expressed divergent
views say, the proposal will increase house rents, discourage property investments; engender black market dealings among other vices. They rather suggested that the government should launch social housing program to assist the low-earning and provide cheaper housing finance to developers at a single digit loan.

Currently, property owners/landlords compulsorily demand between one to two years’ rents from their tenants. This situation was what prompted the Council (Comprising of  the highest assembly of senior officials of the Federal and State Governments, and experts in the housing sector) to make a move to declare the enforcement of a law on monthly rent payment across the federation, with the aim to ameliorate the challenge of accessing housing in Nigeria.

Speaking of the proposed law, the Lagos State Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Rogba Orimolade said the reality is that there is an existing shortage of housing stocks hence bringing regulations will amount to imposing a black market situation.

He emphasized that the main issues, which revolve around the vicious circle of the challenges affecting the sector include finance, cost of building approvals, the cost of doing business in terms of building stocks of houses, tilting, making registration of governors consent cheaper.

Mr. Sam Eboigbe who is the Chairman, Faculty of Estate Agency and Auctioneering, NIESV, gave his opinion stating that for such proposal to be implemented, core professionals and relevant stakeholders must be consulted for effective implementation. According to him, if the cost of funding and other variables required in making housing available is still high, the reality of such resolution is in doubt for the housing sector.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Tetramanor Limited, a property development Company Mr. John Beecroft observed that the initiative has been in practice in other countries such as the United States of America but remarked that Nigeria standard is not ripe for it, based on some observable loopholes in Nigerian legal structure.




Sourced: The Guardian