The Lagos State government on Tuesday expressed worries over the rising housing deficit in the state which it puts at three million units. The Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, revealed this at the second Real Estate Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, pointing out that about eighty-seven people per hour entered Lagos on daily basis.
According to Lawal, the fact that Lagos is Nigeria economic nerves centre had made it susceptible to the high migration of people which he noted had in turn put continuous pressures on the state’s infrastructures. In his words, about eighty-seven people per hour enter Lagos on a daily basis which has led to unusual pressure on land and housing infrastructural facilities which in turn has contributed to the inadequate housing and increased number of slums in the state. Mr Lawal also discloses that the state has about three million units of housing deficit but in the next four years, the government plans to provide 20,000 units of houses.The commissioner also revealed that the administration had appointed facilities managers for both its old and new housing estates, saying that with such appointments, the tide of continuous depreciation in values of such houses would be stemmed.
The Special Adviser on Housing, Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, in her remark, decried the negative effect of the fraudulent real estate practices on the state economy. According to her, it is instructive to state here that the world over, fraudulent practices is an age-long issue, since we are all humans, such acts are to be expected in our day-to-day activities. Real estate fraud is when an individual or agency uses false information or misrepresents the information for any real estate transaction and such activities have adverse effects on economic activities in the state.
Source: Nigerian Tribune
