‘Land Without Title, Bane Of Housing Dev

The difficulties in getting land titles is one of the factors militating against the development of houses, Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP),  Mr Moses Ogunleye has urged the governments to create an enabling environment for the building of more houses in 2012.

Ogunleye said in Lagos that an enabling environment will make it possible for Nigerians to own, build or buy houses.

He said government should also review the conditions that made it difficult for developers and individuals to build houses.

Ogunleye said that 2012 was a year the federal and state governments and other stakeholders should work to bridge the housing gap.

“Even if we have a new Urban Development and Housing Policy what portion of it are you going to implement?,’’ he asked.

He added: “FG has said it will provide enabling environment for operators in housing industry to operate. So, how enabling has the environment been?

“They should make 2012 more enabling for developers to come on board for Nigerians to own, build or buy a house.”

Ogunleye said that there were a lot of factors affecting housing delivery, including the long time spent in obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) at the state level.

He said that land without C of O was like having money that had no value.

“We have a lot of clauses that are affecting the procedure. For instance, even at the state level, it takes you too long a time to get your C of O processed.

“It is a big issue. The issue is that if you have land and there is no title, it is like you have money and that money is tied down somewhere and that money has no value,” he said.

According to him, government should enhance the process of getting C of O so that within a short time it will be out.

He said that the government should also encourage the private sector toward building houses for medium income earners by providing tax incentives for them to build.

“Government can give developers land free and ask them not to pay until after they have finished selling the houses,” he said.

He said that the government should also consider the issue of housing finance as a lot of people had land but no money to build.