Pass Real Estate Bills, LCCI Tells N’Assembly

• Pass Real Estate Bills, LCCI Tells N’Assembly

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on the National Assembly to pass all pending real estate-related bills so as to help boost the industry’s growth.

The President, LCCI, Mrs. Nike Akande, stated at the first business clinic of the chamber’s real estate group that the industry needed government’s support as the country’s large population of 180 million and huge housing deficit were indicative of a positive prospect for the real estate industry.

She said, “The government should give more support to this sector by pursuing the passage of all pending real estate-related bills at the National Assembly.

“Some of these are the Infrastructure Development Bill; the Engineering Registration Act (Amendment) Bill 2016; Nigeria Industrial Development and Zones Bill 2016; Nigerian Assets Management Agency Establishment and Regulatory Bill 2016; and the National Housing Fund Act (Amendment) Bill 2016.”

Akande added that the real estate industry had become one of the major drivers of growth and development aspiration of the country, and that because of the importance and performance of the industry over the last few years, the LCCI decided to unbundle real estate from the construction group and make it a stand-alone group in the chamber.

She noted that a recent report published by PwC found that the Nigerian construction and real estate industry remained robust despite the prevailing economic slowdown.

“The industry is projected to record a compound annual growth rate of 9.49 per cent over the period of 2016 to 2020. In addition, Nigeria has emerged as a major hub of building and architectural design in Africa. This is largely induced by the spread of Nollywood where Nigerian building designs are showcased and watched across the African continent. This presents opportunity for players in the real estate industry to maximise both local and emerging off shore potential,” she added.

Akande said that to ensure sustainability, operators in the real estate industry must embrace modern technologies, and ensure regulatory compliance and standardisation in service delivery.

The Chairman, Real Estate Group, LCCI, Mr. Olumide Osunsina, said membership of the group cuts across real estate developers, surveyors, architects as well as structural engineers, with over 60 companies as members.

“The real estate is one of the groups in the Lagos chamber whose activities are focused on addressing critical issues affecting investment and investors in the real estate industry, which will require the informed intervention of the chamber from time to time,” he said.