Operators have called on the Federal Government to leverage the housing sector as a means of revamping the country’s economy.
The real estate expert stated this at the just concluded Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments, and Agencies with the theme “Improving Land Based Revenue of the Federating Units in Nigeria through Efficient and Effective Land Administration”, in Lagos State.
The Dean of the School of Environmental Technology and Coordinator, Institute for Land and Community Resilience, Professor Olurotimi Kemiki, said housing could be harnessed as a medium for economic investment aside from its primary social function, shelter.
He said, “Globally, the position of real estate investment in economic growth is recognised as a leading role in any given economy. The function played by real estate investment in job creation, household shelter provision, income distribution, and poverty alleviation is paramount.
“Housing is a commercial enterprise actively driven by profit and high speculation when embarking on the primary activity of investing in land/building and other subsequent improvements comprising the erection of new buildings or the provision of infrastructure and services. In the measurement of a nation’s economic activity, the gross private domestic investment is computed into the future productive capacity of the economy based on the measurement of physical investment performance.”
According to Kemik, the World Bank’s suggestion about housing in different years considered housing as a macroeconomic development tool with a multiplier linkage through the economy, which brings about higher productivity at the national level through the reinvigoration of underutilised labour to boost productivity by utilising materials and financial resources.
In the same vein, the Director/Head of Department, Lands And Housing Development Department, Federal Ministry Of Housing & Urban Development, Felix Appah, noted that the ever-growing population of the world in general and Nigeria in particular, has naturally raised the demand for land.
He asserted, “Our hosts, Lagos State, can readily testify as to how land has become a vital tool for internally generated revenue, helping to grow government income and ultimately boost the macroeconomy.
“This conference serves to create an enabling environment for key stakeholders with varied experiences in the public and private sectors to converge and share ideas on how to generate a model/pattern to harness this invaluable resource (land), tackle issues surrounding the implementation of such policies and strategies as would improve land-based revenue generation and make necessary recommendations on feasible solutions to the identified problems.
“Also, in addressing these issues confronting us today, we may take a look at the experiences of various countries around us and then streamline them with generally accepted global best practices.”
Also, the Principal Partner of Godwin Ityoachimin & Co, Godwin Ityoachimin, remarked that reviewing land charges with a view to enhancing access to land by a greater percentage of the population was essential.
He added, “The procedure of arriving as land values should be reviewed in order to capture more revenue (band of values, assessment based on consideration indicated in the Deed of Assignment is usually misrepresented). Provision for review should be strictly enforced, including the imposition of penalties on rent defaulters.
“Demand notice requesting for ground rents should be issued periodically (recent efforts by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, yielded increased revenue on a monthly basis). In addition, political office holders at all levels should exercise the needed political will, particularly on issues of property taxation.”
