Surveyor Attributes Unrented Estates Phenomenon To Corruption

Worried by the
spate of unoccupied houses, when there is a high demand for homes, a Quantity Surveyor in Rivers State, Joe Zakari, has attributed the phenomenon of unoccupied estates to corrupt tendencies of some Nigerians.
Speaking to The Tide recently, Zakari explained that some people embezzled money and that due to the Central Bank Cash Transaction Limit policy, it makes it impossible to lodge certain amount of money without drawing attention.
He said due to this, such persons will invest in property with pseudo names, with no plans to rent or make the rent affordable for people.
As a way to check the trend, the quantity surveyor suggested that proper introduction and enforcement of property tax be taken seriously by the government whereby anyone who has more than two houses would be made to pay higher tax on such properties.
“This will help to check the rate at which people acquire property greedily. Some people acquire properties they do not even need. It is just sheer greed on their part,” he said.
He further suggested that the unoccupied housing estates whose ownerships could not be properly ascertained should be confiscated by the government and be auctioned.
According to him, the high cost of rent in major cities of the country, especially in Port Harcourt and Abuja has negatively impacted on civil servants, saying that civil servants have expressed sadness about the whole situation.
“I do not think that governments have civil servants in their plans for housing. If they do, the process of acquiring housing loans should be made more civil service – friendly, since they know how much they pay us,” he said.

Corlins Walter