*Seeks govts adopt of vertical construction method, ease of land ownership
To address the nation’s housing challenges, the Chief Executive Officer, Wealth Island Properties (WIP), Mr. Tade Cash, has called for maximisation of space in housing development.
Cash, who spoke at partners and realtors’ appreciation ceremony in Lagos, said vertical construction would help people live in city centres.
He said, since most residents prefer to live within city centres because of lack of road connectivity and other critical infrastructure in the outskirt, government should consider high-rise development to accommodate the larger population.
He stressed that connectivity is important for people to live in the outskirts of the city. “The reason a lot of people don’t live within the city centres in Nigeria, especially in Lagos, is because we don’t have good road connectivity and mobility for people to live outside the city.
“If you are living on the outskirt of the city, the number one thing that happens is your prosperity.
“Most people, who live in a place where they think a house is cheap, suffer expensive living because they have to work within the city.
“They have to come back to the city everyday, the transportation is number one, what about their health and all of that?
So, this is why I say for people to live within the city, certain things need to be addressed.
“ We have to start going vertical, because, if you were building a bungalow three years ago, you have to stop that.
“In Osborne for instance, you can’t build a basic house anymore, you have to build high-rise, because the cost of the land is costly. So, why are you wasting it? Why are you going to build a storey building on land you bought over a billion naira, that is a waste of money and resources.”
Cash urged government to also look at land ownership and documentation with the view to easing the process of land ownership, because it is still cumbersome to owe land in places like Lagos and Abuja.
According to him, his firm has over the years remained a freedom lifestyle real estate company, which sees the industry beyond being a business, but a window for people to invest in the future and live on their own terms.
He, however, said the real estate developer and investors couldn’t do much in tackling housing deficits in Nigeria because government needs to ease land ownership and documentation processes.
He said: “For instance, documentation for a single land is so cumbersome that not everyone wants to go through that hassles, hence a lot of people have land without documentation.”
He stressed that the company has been involved property development in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos Mainland, Opebi, Ikotun, Isolo and in some African countries.