The Estate Agents Practitioners Association of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department, (LASRETRAD), last week organised their annual Stakeholders’ Forum, where the 2016 activities were reviewed.
The event that took place at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Lagos State government Secretariat, Alausa, had as its theme: “Arbitration: A Better Option to Dispute Resolution”, had in attendance Estate Agents, government officials and other stakeholders, was also aimed at correcting some anomalies in tenancy transactions in the state, which bulk of blames focused estate agents.
In his address, the Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal noted that in view of the importance of real estate sector and its significant contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria and especially, to Lagos State, it is imperative that activities in such important sector should be properly regulated to enable it deliver at its optimum to the benefit of not just the practitioners but also to the entire citizenry.
According to Lawal, the theme for the event has been carefully chosen to enable the stakeholders consider this alternative means of dispute resolution.
“In any human endeavour, conflict, misunderstanding and professional misconduct cannot be completely eliminated. This is more so in the course of real estate transactions”, he said, noting that the present administration’s desire for quick conflict resolution led to the pursuit of alternative dispute resolution to the current judicial system.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his Special Adviser on Housing, Mrs Aramide Giwanson, also reiterated similar sentiment.
According to him, real estate industry has become one of the most vibrant sectors of the Lagos economy, and that infrastructure renewal policy of the government, coupled with increased public spending on capital projects have made the State a destination of choice for both commercial and residential developers that has led to an upsurge in real estate investment.
He noted that this high market demand has made the sector susceptible to abuse by individuals who engage in nefarious activities to the detriment of residents.
“The number of court cases that Ministry of Housing has had institute as a result of issues arising from real estate transactions in recent times is unprecedented and has become a thorny issue.
“Therefore, the need to expeditiously dispose cases in order to sanitise and build confidence in the sector for the benefit of all stakeholders cannot be over-emphasised”, the governor said.
The guest speaker, Mr Juwon Adenuga, an estate surveyor and valuer, who rephrased the topic of event to “Arbitration is a better option to resolve disputes in real estate practice than litigation,” contended that with the understanding of disputes and two resolution options and their scope of applications, it could be taking for granted that option of arbitration is better suited to resolve disputes than litigation.
On the importance of estate surveyor and valuer to intending investors in the real estate sector, Adenuga noted that these investors need the guidance of the Surveyors to make feasible and valuable decision.
Noting that investments in real estate are capital intensive and by implication, heavy losses are possible in huge investments, “it’s important that incidents capable of resulting in financial losses are minimised. That is why disputes, being one of such incidents needs to be resolved as efficiently as possible and it is in this regard one would see that ADR is far better. It saves time, money and quickly restores healthy relationship among the contending parties”.
Separating different services provided in real estate practice into different specialties, Adenuga listed these areas to include Valuation, Feasibility and Viability Appraisal, Project Management, Estate Agency and Property Development, noted that in the course of rendering these services, relationships are created, most of which are contractual and commercial in nature.
“For instance, there will be relationships between estate surveyors and property owners; between landlords and tenants; and Consultants property owners in the building industry; between property owners and contractors, and so on, just as dispute occurs in any other relationships, but if not well handled, can lead to delay in project execution and by implication, huge loss to one party or the other”.
However, estate agents issue took a more pronounced attention at the parley, as a result of tenancy related problems that once took the center stage in the Lagos metropolis.
Before the establishment of LASRETRAD, cases of duping of potential tenants became rampant. At that time, some estate agents, so called, would collect money from different people for a single apartment, while in some cases, they would influence property owners to demand for advanced payments, ranging from two, three or five years, in some cases.
Condemning the development, President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Dr Bolarinde Patunola-Ajayi, in his goodwill message, urged the estate agents to purge themselves of bad eggs who are spoiling their integrity and goodwill.
“Estate agency is more than business, it’s a profession and urged the practitioners to see it as such. It’s our role as practitioners to collaborate with government to weed out fraudsters and quacks from the system. Let us uphold the code of conduct of our profession and sanitise it”, Patuola-Ajayi counseled.
Similarly, President, Real Estate Agents in Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Adedeji, urged government to set up a monitoring team that will comprised government officials and representative of various estate agent associations.
“I will implore government to ensure that tenancy law in Lagos is fully implemented and that can only be possible with collaboration of all stakeholders in the sector,” Adedeji said.
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