REDAN President says real estate business will boom soon

Mr. Ugo Chime, the President, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), on Thursday said real estate development sector was about to experience a boom.

Chime said this on Thursday while speaking on `Real Estate Management’ at an empowerment programme organised by a religious body in Enugu.

He said that the boom was as a result of the recent successes the association recorded in surmounting challenges and concerns facing the real estate sector.

Chime attributed the recent successes to the ability of REDAN leadership to convince the Federal Government that real estate could contribute more to Nigeria’s economy if given the necessary support.

“Real estate in Nigeria contributes just about seven per cent to the economy while it contributes 20 per cent and 70 per cent to Ghana and UK’s economy respectively.

“So, we have convinced the Federal Government that real estate can contribute more than its current seven per cent to the economy with the needed support.

“This conviction is yielding results, amongst which the successes we recorded in the past weeks.

“Developers should expect a reduction in prices of building materials in coming weeks, housing schemes in different states and reduction in housing loan interests.

“We’ve been able to conclude a meeting with manufacturers of BUA and Dangote cement and they are interested in making everyone own affordable home.

“This will lead to a reduction in prices of building materials and any loan interest from the National Housing Fund (NHF) is reduced to just 10 per cent or no per cent at all, as the case may be.

“For example, a loan of N5 million from NHF has no interest on it, while that of N10 million to N20 million comes with a 10 per cent interest and not 30 per cent as before.

“Housing scheme contracts has also been awarded to several companies to begin work in different states of Nigeria, amongst others,” said.

Chime, however, said that due to the nascent nature of the profession, some laws needed to be put in place to ensure that the sector thrived.

He lamented the huge capacity gap in Real Estate Management, which he noted was the bane of housing development in Nigeria.

“We hope to embark on training and awareness creation to bridge the gap,’’ he said.

Credit: Nigeria News