Lagos authorities have appealed to practitioners to join hands with government to eliminate unethical practices in the real estate industry.
The government also want them to ensure that perpetrators of dubious activities are dealt with in accordance with relevant provisions of the State Law
The Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on Housing, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, spoke during the Alphacrux Real Estate Outlook Conference held virtually last week, where she x-rayed the efforts and activities of the State Government in the real estate sector.
Alphacrux Real Estate Outlook Conference is an annual gathering of industry experts, developers, economists, and investors in the built industry, to network, learn, share knowledge and discuss the business year.
The Special Adviser, who spoke as a special guest, maintained that if integrity is restored to the real estate profession, more international investments would be attracted to the country and would be beneficial to many individuals, the State and Nigeria as a whole.
She insisted that the real estate market must be transparent for investors to invest their resources, stressing that this is what Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) and the State Government stand for, stressing that the economic growth of any nation depends on the combined efforts of various individual business ventures, institutions, public and private bodies.
She appreciated the organiser of the event for recognising the efforts of governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as it relates to Real Estate activities in the State.
Benson-Awoyinka also stated that the giant strides made by LASRERA within this short period is having the expected results, one of which is the increased awareness about the office.
Speaking on the relationship between LASRERA and the regulatory bodies in the real estate business, Mrs. Benson-Awoyinka explained that “ I am always quick to make this clarification at every gathering like this that involves relevant stakeholders in the built sector especially practitioners in the Real Estate sector that LASRERA was not established to assume the position of the existing professional regulatory bodies for real estate practitioners, rather, the agency should be able to work together hand in hand with existing regulatory bodies to sanitize the sector together.
“Basically as government, LASRERA came into being as a response to perceived and reported cases of fraudulent practices in the real estate sector. Constitutionally, government exists for the purpose of protecting lives and property, it would be insensitive on the part of the government to have ignored thousands of Lagosians who have at one time or the other fell culprit of these fraudulent practices,”
While saying that real estate remains an investment Asset of choice, the Special Adviser warned that buyers should be careful where they are investing their money in order to avoid unpalatable stories.
While citing the different initiatives from LASRERA, Mrs. Benson-Awoyinka expressed the hope that reported cases of fraudulent practices will be curtailed and genuine Practitioners will be able to render good services to the public seeking real estate properties within the state.