Estate Developer Links High Rents To Massive Demolition

An estate developer in
Port Harcourt, Mr Edwin Ikeji, has said that the massive demolition of houses in the city and its environs without a corresponding provision for alternative settlements has induced significant increase in house rents.
Ikeji, who was speaking with The Tide in Port Harcourt last Saturday, said that many who had places of residence became accommodation seekers after their homes were demolished.
He noted that such situation creates room for desperation, as people would be willing to settle down by whatever means, and may even be ready to accept any conditions house owners might want to impose on them.
According to him, since there was high demand for houses, with only few homes available, the tendency was for house seekers to pay higher rents, and for which many of them cannot afford.
He said, “because of high cost of rent, many houses in some estates and low density areas of Port Harcourt were not occupied, as most accommodation seekers could not afford their rents.
The estate developer noted also that one major responsibility of government in any part of the world was to provide shelter for its citizens and urged government to seek to meet the expectations of the workers in terms of provision of affordable housing.
Ikeji, however, urged the state government to create an enabling environment for mass housing development by way of making land available to genuine estate developers who are willing to build affordable houses.
He also noted that government’s neglect of the housing needs of its citizens shows the level of its insensitivity.

Corlins Walter