The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has referred to as for an finish to fraudulent and unprofessional practices in Nigeria’s actual property sector, insisting that people should now not be allowed to function as property builders with out due course of, confirmed competence and accountability.
The organisation mentioned Nigeria might now not afford an actual property market the place people purchase parcels of land, promote estates with out correct documentation, gather thousands and thousands of naira from unsuspecting consumers and abandon housing tasks.
The Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, made the decision in Abuja on Monday whereas reacting to the National Stakeholders Conference on Real Estate Regulation convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Habitat on the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Adebayo described the convention as a probably historic turning level in efforts to sanitise the true property trade, shield homebuyers and restore public confidence within the housing sector.
He counseled the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the Chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Habitat, Abdulmumin Jibrin, for championing legislative reforms geared toward addressing fraud, unprofessional conduct and weak accountability within the trade.
“This must mark a new dawn for Nigeria’s real estate sector. The days when anybody can wake up in the morning, acquire a parcel of land, print colourful brochures, advertise imaginary estates on social media, collect millions of naira from innocent Nigerians and automatically declare himself a property developer must come to an end,” he mentioned.
According to him, property growth is a severe skilled and monetary endeavor involving folks’s lifetime financial savings, household safety, public security and the financial way forward for the nation.
He maintained that no one needs to be permitted to function as a property developer with out verifiable capability, acceptable approvals and clearly outlined obligations to consumers.
Adebayo expressed concern over recurring complaints of fraudulent land transactions, a number of allocations of the identical property, deceptive commercials, deserted housing tasks, unauthorised developments and diversion of funds collected from subscribers.
He mentioned the actions had brought about vital monetary losses to Nigerians, with some households shedding their retirement advantages, cooperative contributions and lifelong financial savings to questionable property schemes.
“Some families have paid for houses that were never constructed, while others have discovered that the land sold to them was either disputed, improperly documented or unavailable,” he mentioned.
The HDAN govt director burdened that the proposed National Real Estate Regulatory Authority should be established as an efficient client safety and trade growth establishment relatively than one other paperwork designed merely to gather registration charges.
He referred to as for a complete regulatory framework that would offer for developer registration and classification, verification of economic and technical competence, disclosure of land titles and planning approvals, safety of off-plan housing funds and clear property commercials.
The organisation additionally advocated enforceable undertaking supply obligations, acceptable sanctions towards fraudulent operators and a publicly accessible digital register via which potential consumers might confirm builders, registered tasks and authorised brokers earlier than making monetary commitments.
Adebayo additional proposed regulated escrow preparations and different safeguards to stop builders from indiscriminately diverting subscribers’ funds, alongside accessible complaint-resolution and restitution mechanisms for victims.
He, nonetheless, cautioned that regulation shouldn’t turn into an instrument for excluding real small-scale and rising builders, discouraging entrepreneurship or growing the price of inexpensive housing.
Rather, he mentioned, the proposed framework ought to set up proportionate necessities that encourage accountable companies to formalise their operations whereas stopping fraudulent and incompetent operators from exploiting Nigerians.
The organisation additionally referred to as on the Senate to collaborate with the House of Representatives in creating a complete and enforceable nationwide actual property regulatory legislation.
Adebayo mentioned the proposed reforms ought to transcend political affiliations, institutional rivalries and particular person pursuits, stressing that defending Nigerians from property fraud was a nationwide accountability.
“We commend the House of Representatives for taking this bold initiative. We now appeal to the Senate to join hands with the House and demonstrate that protecting Nigerians from property fraud is a national responsibility that deserves the full attention of both chambers of the National Assembly,” he mentioned.
He urged lawmakers to harmonise present legislative and coverage proposals, interact state governments and related regulatory establishments, and develop a framework that respects Nigeria’s federal construction whereas establishing minimal requirements for client safety {and professional} conduct.
HDAN additionally appealed to civil society organisations, client safety advocates, skilled associations, anti-corruption establishments, the media, housing cooperatives and credible actual property builders to assist the reform course of.
It urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to strengthen cooperation in investigating actual property fraud, defending customers and guaranteeing that confirmed offenders face acceptable penalties.
The organisation, nonetheless, warned towards criminalising real business disputes or subjecting credible companies to arbitrary enforcement.
HDAN challenged contributors on the nationwide stakeholders’ convention to make sure that the assembly produced a sensible legislative roadmap, clear institutional tasks, implementation timelines and measurable commitments.
The organisation recalled that it had earlier unveiled a 20-point nationwide actual property reform agenda advocating stronger client safety, necessary undertaking registration, developer accountability, improved land administration, clear property advertising and a contemporary regulatory framework.
Adebayo pledged the organisation’s analysis, coverage proposals and advocacy expertise to assist the National Assembly and different stakeholders working in direction of the proposed reforms.
He mentioned the success of the convention shouldn’t be measured by the variety of dignitaries in attendance or the speeches delivered, however by the institution of a system able to defending Nigerians searching for to personal properties.
“History will not judge this conference by the number of dignitaries who attended, the speeches delivered or the beauty of the communiqué issued. It will judge us by whether we finally established a system that protects the ordinary Nigerian who works hard, saves money and dreams of owning a decent home,” he mentioned.
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