Engage Professionals To Curb Building Collapse, Real Estate Experts Warn Developers

Experts have warned that engagement of inexperienced workers is the cause of consistent building collapse in Lagos State.

Following systematic building collapsing in the State specifically with the 44 Gerard Road event which claimed the lives of over 40 persons including the contractor.

Experts which include the Chairman, Panel of Inquiry into Ikoyi Building Collapse, Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, General Manager Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory (LSMTL), Engr. Olufunsho Elulade, Director General Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr Lanre Mojola, MD/CEO Megamound Investments, Otunba Olumide Osunsina and General Manager Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Arc. Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, revealed this during a panel session titled: “Stemming the Tide of Building Failure in Lagos State” at the 3rd Lagos State Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibitions.

The 2-day town hall meeting targeted at mitigating the potential risks of real estate organized by the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Tuesday.

Giving his insight into repeated buildings collapse in the State, Mr Ayinde, pointed out that greedy developers think of profit and not value, asserting that the construction industry requires synergy with all regulatory agencies.

In his remark, GM LASBCA, Oki, noted that most developers don’t know the importance of soil tests and design approval before construction. “Most developers don’t wait for approval before they start constructions, getting approval before construction and maintenance of the building are important.”

Declaring the occasion open, the Governor of Lagos State who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, elucidated that the conference and exhibition was initiated as a platform for individuals and organizations operating in the real estate sector to network and address developmental issues affecting the real estate business in the State.

“The emerging trends and practices in this sector in recent time call for increased vigilance on the part of all genuine practitioners and the government in view of the rate of reported cases of dubious acts by some real estate agents who are taking undue advantage of the market which has become one of the fastest growing in Nigeria and Lagos State in particular as a result of increasing population.”

“As a Government, we owe it a duty to safeguard investments of people who may be unaware of some unprofessional practices in the market. The need to restore public confidence to this sector led to the establishment of the Lagos State Real Estate transaction in Lagos State to protect the citizens and investors from the potential risks emerging in the market.”

“The Agency has defined minimum operational standards and guidelines for citizens to abide with. The guidelines provide a comprehensive checklist for the citizens to correctly identify and have competitive list of registered individuals/organizations to avoid doing business with unregistered Real Estate practitioners in the system.”

In her welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Housing, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, expressed worried that the impersonation in the Real Estate Industry is becoming unethically high and this is seriously contributing to fraudulent proliferation in the real estate market which is having negative impact on the reputation of individuals and organizations including the regulating agencies of the State Government.

She stated further that the real estate sector has been plagued with risks and losses which have been critical issues for those in the Sector, the globalization of transparency on Business Transactions in the Real Estate Markets as demanded from international Standard of any investments, necessitated the need for the involvement of government in the regulation of the Real Estate Sector.

Benson-Awoyinka who is also a moderator in one of the panel sessions declared that the Lagos State Government is determined to ensure sanity is restored to the State’s Real Estate Environment with the review of the Agency’s Law. “This development calls for appropriate regulation, implementation and enforcement of the Real Estate Laws in order to restore sanity into the sector and instil public confidence in the real estate profession and it explains why the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority – LASRERA is mandated to regulate and register those individuals and organizations who are involved in this Sector,” she said.

She added: “Lagos State Government is determined to ensure sanity is restored to the State’s Real Estate Environment with the review of the Agency’s Law on Monday, 7th February, 2022, to protect investors/investees against any potential risks and also prosecute individuals and organizations, boost the activities of Real Estate Markets with accredited and licensed Practitioners through lasrera.lagosstate.gov.ng.”

“If the regulations and policies of the State Government are not effectively regulated with proper Law such as LASRERA Law, Mortgage Insurance Policy and Land Matter Laws which guarantee, safeguard and protect those people involved whenever there is Business Transactions in case of disasters in Construction projects, Acquisition/Sale, Rental on Residential/Commercial purposes, the sector will continue to have records of loss of money and investment opportunities.”

“I must mention that as of today, we have a total of 1584 Enrollees on LASRERA’s Registration Portal. Out of this number, LASRERA can only boast of a total of 203 registered applicants from inception to now. This number shows those that are fully registered with their permits to operate issued by LASRERA,” Benson-Awoyinka concluded.