| 'Only 5% of land owners pay ground rent' We are advocating land reforms in the country. From what we have put on ground before the end of the year, the platform will be set to generate basic information and analyse it. We plan to strengthen our relationship with our student body. I am worried about what happens to them when they graduate, we don't want them to join other professions when they graduate, the idea for us is to encourage as many of them that read estate management to practice it. The challenge of land administration is huge in this country so we look forward to when the thousands that read the course in the university and polytechnics will be made to practice it in the real sense of it. Property tax is a very good income for any state government just as tenement rate is a good source of revenue for the local governments all over the world. We keep talking of wealth creation, meanwhile, we have wealth in abundance that can't be accessed by those who own it. They let out homes that do not exist and operate from a mobile office. Though letting and selling property is part of what we do as estate surveyors, it is however an infinitesimal part, compared to what we are professionally competent to do. It is an uncontrolled sector where all manner of people practice, both the qualified and the unqualified. Unfortunately, there are too many people who are into agency who bring disrepute to the profession. Sadly, a large amount of people are duped on a regular basis by those who call themselves agents. The law establishing us said we're the only professional group that can value properties. We intend to pursue this and advice that before the acceptance of any valuation, it must be certified by us, that is the only way the fight against corruption will succeed. We are encouraging our members to embrace mega practice. The economy is moving to a stage where organisations and multinational firms will prefer to use a single integrated firm rather than too many firms. A bank where information can be analysed and collected in a way that it can be usable. We are already discussing with firms that are desirous of funding it. The data bank will provide information, not just on rent and sales figures but also offer information on building material rates. On the back-drop of that, our intention is to bring agency under control; our plan indeed is to have a registered body separate from the institution where those who practice only agency can register. People tend to forget our core competence in terms of valuation, appraisal, facility and property management. We are strongly convinced that their activities ought to be regulated and brought under scrutiny in the interest of the public. To underscore our convictions in this area, we have started the process and are presently putting our papers together to sponsor a bill in the National Assembly to ensure all activities pertaining to agency is brought under our control. For instance, if somebody is letting a home in Lagos or Abuja, and a customer wants to buy, the buyer will be privy to who the owner is and who will be instructing the agent. This, in our thinking, will protect the buyer so that if something goes wrong there will be a fall back mechanism. We are poised to launch a multiple listing service. The idea is to revolutionalise agency practice in the nation giving opportunity to those who are listed on the platform to advertise their properties there. Before a home can be listed, we will know who will be behind it and where the individual is trained. The added advantage for subscribers is that those captured in this data bank will sell their properties easily because of public confidence and the publicity the listing will attract. We are already talking with two service providers and before the end of the year, we will achieve it and which will bring an end to cases of agents absconding with peoples monies. If you don't own land in Lagos or any big town, you will certainly own one in your village. This means that about 85 per cent of land in the country is neither usable nor tradable as government technically is aware of only about five per cent of land in this country. To strengthen the project, we have also strengthened our secretariat with highly qualified hands that will run it proficiently to ensure responsiveness. The institution intends to produce a data bank; part of the challenge in the real estate sector is that to get any information, one will need to call up people. The idea is to invite our members who are lecturers from the universities to spend one year of their sabbatical with the institution and get this through. Going forward, we also realise that we can not neglect those agents as they service a segment of the society. We intend to mount a public campaign on which we are-anybody who qualifies through our procedures by going to school to study estate management and qualifies in all of the exams and processes. It is apt at this time that if the public requires rental or leasing information in Lagos, lbadan or Abuja, all they need do is to get in touch with the secretariat and the information will be provided. It is not late to correct those anomalies. l use this opportunity to work tenaciously on the land-related Executive bills sent to the National Assembly to review the land use act, but up until now, nothing appreciable has been done in that light. We all know that Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) came into being because of the banking crisis and huge debt portfolio of some banks that needed to be managed to keep the banks afloat. We should be on the board of AMCON and at the top levels of decision making, because by our training, asset management is our turf. The idea is that nobody gets duped, it will be impossible to list a house that you don't have authority to list and you can also not run away with people's money, because all necessary information about the actors in a particular property will be in a verifiable data bank. Multiple listing services is a system that enables practitioners to list their properties under one platform, with what is listed in turn made available to those who are enlisted in thelist serve. The beauty of the platform is that if somebody does not have clear instructions from the landlord and owner of a particular property, it can not be listed. But if our land tenure system is reformed to the extent that every plot of land has a title, he can easily walk into a bank with the title to the land and obtain the loan he desires. |
Tuesday 10 April 2012
'Only 5% of land owners pay ground rent'
