By Angela Atabo
Casalavoro Limited, a real estate and hospitality company, has identified government incentives on land and partnerships as crucial to addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit.
The company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Williams Olatunbosun, made this known at the unveiling of Casalavoro Residence, in Wuse 2, Abuja, on Saturday.
Olatunbosun said that reducing the cost of land and property development would encourage more developers in the housing sector to build, thereby, making housing more affordable.
He explained that the firm’s vision was to be the world’s most sustainable African investment firm and to contribute its quota to addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit.
According to him, such will go a long way in enabling the company to make a mark in solving the problem of the masses.
He said the firm hoped to achieve the vison through profitable, durable, long-term investments in Africa that would make impact and solve housing problems, not only in Nigeria but in the whole of Africa.
“We cannot do this alone, definitely we need the support of the government to achieve this because the major reason for the high cost of houses is the cost of the land and the cost of development.
“So the government can support in terms of low cost of land and in terms of partnerships to build communities.
“This is because if the cost of the land goes down by 50 per cent, the cost of housing goes down by 50 per cent,” he said.
Olatunbosun the firm had done its calculations and realised that it was possible to build something great even with just 50 million naira.
According to him, the aim is not just about building houses but about affordability and flexibility in payment because people also need the finance to acquire such houses.
He said that they needed to have access to long-term finance so they would be able to pay for houses within 20 years.
“So, it’s really not just about m building it, it’s really the affordability and flexibility in payment,” he said.
He said that with the National Housing Fund (NFH) mortgage loan limit now increased to N50 million per applicant by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), more Nigerians would be able to own homes.
The Group CEO said that the firm currently had apartments in Lagos and Abuja and hoped to expand because its goal was to provide 10 million housing units within the next 10 years.
“Our major goal for these communities is to make them self-sufficient, energy efficient, that it reduces the cost of electricity for the masses, as well but we need government support.
“There are lots of things that the government can help with, like tax reduction, government is a an enabler.
”So, if they can give the right platform and encourage entrepreneurs to expand through access to finance and low cost of buildings, then I believe that this is really possible,” he said.
Also Speaking , Attah Ahiaba, the company’s Chairman, Board of Directors, said the firm aimed to deliver quality houses with a view to achieving sustainability in housing delivery to curb Nigeria’s housing deficit.
Ahiaba added that the firm planned on partnering with the government to lower the cost of houses by beating down the cost if land to ensure that low income earners benefitted from it.
“The capital cost of land is a major factor in determining unit costs of housing.
“So our goal is to bring housing delivery close to the doorsteps of the common man and the only way we can do that is to beat down the cost of land,” he said.
Mr John Adewumi, Managing-Director and CEO of MJ Havens Limited, said the hospitality firm was partnering with Casalavoro Limited to bring in a touch of luxury into the apartment business in Abuja.
Adewumi called for more government support for medium and small scale businesses to grow as part of efforts to boost the economy.(NAN)
