Polls: Developer tasks gov’t on housing policies

The newly elected FCT chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Mr. Andrew Elerewe, has urged whoever emerges as the country`s   president to come up with sustainable and implementable housing policies for the real estate sector to thrive. Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, he said investors in the nation`s real […]

The newly elected FCT chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Mr. Andrew Elerewe, has urged whoever emerges as the country`s   president to come up with sustainable and implementable housing policies for the real estate sector to thrive.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, he said investors in the nation`s real estate sector want government to evolve realistic and pragmatic housing policies to solve the plethora of issues affecting the sector.

He said, “We have quite a number of them but the good news is that they are all resolvable. We all need to come to the table and they also need to carry us along in whatever policies they need to take.”

Andrew Elerewe who is the Chairman/ CEO of AIBEN Investment & Properties Ltd, berated a recent FCT Administration policy prohibiting the issuance of approval to all area councils title holders as far-reaching without consulting stakeholders -developers.

He said, “when you make such policy it has a far-reaching effect on the economy. Those who are in the process of approval can’t go further, those who have titles they can’t sell as investment and then the land is stuck there,” he said.

It just doesn’t make sense and government needs to be businesslike and begin to see time as a very valuable tool, because time is what we don’t have as developers.”

He enjoined government to stop formulating policies that keep real estate investors in the dark.