Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday warned investors and stakeholders in the real estate sector against falling victim to fraudulent realtors who flaunts ‘excision in process’ as land title.
The governor also vowed to clamp down on dubious activities that have been reported lately in the housing sector to ensure sanity in the industry.
Sanwo-Olu’s warning was delivered by his special adviser on housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka at an event organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce Construction and Real Estate Group in Lagos.
“There’s no clear title of land in Lagos called ‘excision in process’, as such land has not to be allocated. You must search at the land bureau to ensure that a property has a clean title before you begin any transaction to avoid being scammed,” she said.
Benson-Awoyinka said the move was in line with the Lagos fiscal responsibility measure to ensure that all stakeholders in the housing value chain were beneficiaries of their transactions.
She said the state would conclude the foreclosure clause in its mortgage law in a few weeks to build investors’ confidence and provide access to investments when there’s a default in the mortgage payment.
“This year is going to be different as Lagos is going to tackle fraudulent activities in the real estate sector this year. We will name and shame when the time comes because the returns on investment is unbelievable so there’s no reason to defraud people,’’ she noted.
Ms Benson-Awoyinka stressed the need for land buyers to do their due diligence and engage the services of a lawyer when purchasing properties to avoid cases of fraudulent land allocation.
She also expressed the state’s readiness to partner with the federal government to provide more affordable housing.
NAN
