In a bid to check unprofessional practices and charlatans in the real estate ecosystem, the Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) in partnership with the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria(REDAN) are set to work out a legal framework to regulate the sector.
The rising spate of building collapse, fraud and other illegal practices by players in the real estate industry, according to Festus Adebayo, HDAN President can be traced to the absence of a regulatory body vested with the power to curb the activities injurious to the development of the sector.
HDAN has also expressed readiness to sponsor a bill at the National Assembly that will allow REDAN to allow it to perform regulatory roles to ensure the sector is sanitised.
“As we can see today, there is no supra regulatory agency for the housing and construction sector in Nigeria. We have had and continue to have too many cases of building collapse, fraudulent practices by some unlicensed developers, with many of them currently under police and EFCC investigation. The victims of these fraudulent practices are many, and even includes people in government. So it is time to sanitise the sector,” Adebayo said.
According to him, the real estate sector is supposed to be one of the highest contributors to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, but it is being dampened because there is no proper regulation.
He added that Nigeria has a huge property market, but it can only prosper and attract Foreign Direct Investments when it is proper regulation, professionalism and integrity.
Also, Adebayo opined that HDAN is “beginning an engagement with the National Assembly to fast track the passage of foreclosure bill into law to legally resolve default issues in the sector. Also the review of land use act of 1978, Federal Government Housing Loans Board bill (FGHLB), the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme Act 2018, amongst many others.”