Private sector operators fault govts on mass housing, seek easy access to land

In apparent demonstration of concern for the housing needs of the people, one government after another at both state and federal levels have tried but never succeeded in actually delivering mass or low cost housing to the people.

This failure is almost always due to poor planning which private sector operators, especially private estate developers, link to structural problems, insisting that mass housing projects require strategic planning for enhanced implementation as the target beneficiaries of these projects require minimum facilities in order to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“Our expectation as private operators is that the government should provide enabling environment for mass housing in order to encourage the target beneficiaries to take advantage. The easiest item to get by the government is land. But beyond land is the issue of facilities such as good road network, sewage, pipe borne water, electricity and a host of others that can bring about enabling environment”, said Adetokunmbo Ajayi at an interactive session with the media in Lagos at the weekend.

Ajayi, who is the MD/CEO, Propertygate Development and Investment Company, noted that due to low income and weak purchasing power of the target beneficiaries, the rich always buy up the low-cost houses and let them out to the poor who should be the ultimate beneficiaries.

He reasoned that government’s mass housing projects and proposed measures to revamp them would continue to suffer setbacks for so long as there was lack of good road network, power supply, sewage and water which remained a hurdle to be crossed in order to make mass housing project attractive to private investors and the beneficiaries.

As an integral part of the larger economy, operating business environment has been very tough for the housing industry and Ajayi explained that most high net-worth clients could not make effective demand due to weak purchasing power, adding that real estate operators’ ability to import some components of building has been moderated by the high cost of foreign exchange.

Quite a good number of companies have had to redefine their project portfolio, restrategise and re-order their priorities, but Propertygate remained profitable which the chief executive attributed to their corporate integrity, innovation, excellent customer care, strong and dedicated human capital.

“We have executed many high-profile projects in the year in spite of the challenges which the real estate industry has experienced as a result of the recessionary period”, he enthused, assuring that “creativity and adherence to quality products and services would continue to define our operational philosophy at Propertygate”.

Real Estate is a capital intensive business. The operators are therefore, at the mercy of banks due to high cost of funds and low profitability. This is why the operators are canvassing an environment that will enable them to operate optimally.

CHUKA UROKO