Developers in the real estate sector have accused the government of prioritising revenue generation over the implementation of policies.
The Chief Executive Officer of Darryl Homes Nigeria Limited, Omotayo Odumade, said the government had turned the real estate industry into revenue-generating sector without implementing appropriate policies that would engender the sector’s development.
He said, “Lagos State has adequate policies and regulatory bodies to check the shoddy works of developers in the construction of buildings in the state. The incessant collapse of buildings in Lagos in recent times will become a thing of the past if the regulatory bodies can do their jobs in line with the real estate policies of the state.
“The real estate industry is huge and offers opportunities for participants in the sector to generate revenue. However, the government has turned the real estate industry into a revenue-generating sector.
“The government has made adequate policies and set up regulatory bodies to put developers in check, but in the long run, they still serve as revenue-generating means for themselves”, he said.
In the same vein, another developer, Olorunyomi Alatise, urged the government prioritised tax collection over enforcing regulatory policies for professionals in the built environment, leading to neglect of construction process oversight.
He said, “The government has all the needed regulatory policies to put the professionals in the built environment in check, but rather than enforcing, they focus on collecting taxes with little care about the process of construction.
“Even if they care by marking distressed buildings for demolition, these buildings are eventually completed in the long run, hence they are solely focused on money and are corrupt in their own selves”.
Meanwhile, Odumade took a swipe at real estate developers who cut corners in the execution of their projects to the detriment of the sector and the citizenry.
“Cutting corners is an old-fashioned tactic in real estate. From experience, most of the corner cutters have blamed themselves in the long run. Let me give you a practical example: we have properties that stay a year or more in the market before they are sold.
“For a developer that has cut corners in painting for example, he will have to repaint and repaint before he gets his property sold out, which means he must have spent times three of the initial painting cost as a result of the delay in selling off his property.”