Experts push Lagos redevelopment as population rises

Stakeholders in the real estate sector have stressed the need for Lagos urban redevelopment in a bid to tackle the rising population explosion in Lagos State.

This was the centre of discussion on Thursday in Lagos during an event organised by Exclusive Estate in partnership with BusinessDay.

The event was themed ‘Exploring Redevelopment Investment Opportunities in Lagos Mainland Real Estate Sector’.

Speaking during the event, the Chairman of Exclusive Estate, Mr Peter Adobamen, while admitting that the mainland is more strategically located to connect to other parts of Lagos State, added that 85 per cent of Lagos residents live on the mainland.

“I have a friend who moved to Sangotedo, and it takes him four hours to get to Victoria Island.

But from Yaba, you get to Marina and Victoria Island within 10-15 minutes. But because this area was already tight, people started moving towards Lekki and the rest.

But like you heard, they are coming back because it’s closer to the Central Business District,” Adobamen stated.

He stated that Lagos Mainland has a better road network, unlike the Island.

According to him, the younger generation is more interested in smaller apartments than bigger ones, adding that most of the old buildings on the mainland are being demolished for modern houses.

“If you notice the urbanisation and the younger demographics, they are involved in the digital global play. We observed that they are younger people who are okay with the smaller units. The era of the big five-bedroom duplex is gone. So, people are becoming more realistic, going for the smaller units,” he said.

He mentioned finance as one of the major problems with urban redevelopment.

“Finance has been one of the challenges facing urban redevelopment: the high interest rate regime. I wouldn’t say government regulation is a challenge, but it’s there. So, we must find an intersection between government regulation and the dynamics of development. So those are what I could call challenges,” he added.

He called on the government to be able to balance development and societal issues, saying, “Having to displace the low-income people you saw in Oworoshoki and the rest. Those are issues; they are societal issues. So the government should be able to balance development and societal issues.”

In his keynote speech, the Director, Centre for Housing & Sustainable Development at the University of Lagos, Prof. Timothy Nubi, called for the reduction in the cost of documentation for landed properties in Lagos.

“At the first fiscal planning summit a few years ago, Babatunde Fashola gave the keynote address, and he told them at that gathering to reduce the cost of assessment, cost of CofO, and cost of documentation. He said, “reduce it and let this project come on board,” Nubi said.

He stressed that the high cost of getting the necessary documentation is killing construction in the state: “These are killing projects. People look at how much they will pay before they will get approval. It’s so much that some just give up. When you reduce the cost of approval and the project comes to the market, you will now begin to charge a land use charge. They are going to mine money forever.”

Nubi warned that the implication of the hike is that getting approval will lead to illegal and substandard construction.

“The implication of the hike is that illegal construction will continue. Once you don’t have approval, you will be cautious in your construction; you build with what you can. So instead of building with concrete, you build with wood. You minimise your investment to mitigate risk,” Nubi stressed.

He also lamented the absence of the facility management profession, adding that real estate is a critical part of the nation’s economy.

While highlighting that attention is actually on residential buildings in Lagos, Nubi predicted that the population is expected to rise.

“Every day, 900 people move to Lagos with no plans to return. But with the security problem in the northern part of the country, it will be more. There will be massive migration if the security challenges continue. The population of Lagos will likely be about 60 million in the next 25 years,” Nubi warned.

Nubi pointed out that as the population is growing, “we have to understand the nature of the population and their preferences.”

“Over a period of time, there has been this connection between what the people need and what the market is supplying. The population now does not want big space. All they need is an office to work at home and a tiny place to sleep,” he said.