The National President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Akintoye Adeoye, has called on relevant authorities to establish a transparent and corruption-free system in the real estate and land administration sectors, warning that a lack of clarity and manipulation are driving up housing costs and hindering affordability.

Speaking to Sunday PUNCH on the need for reform, Adeoye stressed the importance of transparency in real estate transactions and documentation processes.

“There should be transparency in the system that if I’m buying a property of N100m, as I’m paying my N100m for the property, I should ordinarily know what it will cost me to perfect my documents,” he said.

He decried the lack of clear guidelines and the potential for manipulation within the system, which he said encourages corrupt practices.

“Because if everything is transparent, I know the rates and I know that these are the rules, but in a situation where the rules are not so clear, where somebody can still manipulate the process, you know when any system is subject to manipulation, there will be rent-seeking, there will be demands for money not accounted for,” he added.

Adeoye pointed out that such corrupt practices ultimately inflate the cost of housing, making it increasingly unaffordable for Nigerians.

“At the end of the day, everything goes back to the product pricing, and it makes affordable housing not available. Even when we are talking about land allocation, there should be a transparent system where I can go into the government GIS and know land that is available for sale through the government. And I can also know the price without double payment, whereby somebody is telling me to pay X to a government account and X amount to another account,” he said.

He cited a specific example to illustrate the damaging impact of opaque practices, “For example, if a land costs N1bn and you are asking me to pay N500m to the government account and N500m to X account. In my book, I won’t be able to report that X account I paid money to because that money is corrupt. But at the end of the day, that N500m that I paid to X will still fall part of my cost. Which is not reflected in my book. I can’t carry it on my book, but it will reflect in my cost.”

Adeoye warned that such systemic flaws lead to inflated housing prices across the board.

“And all these things at the end of the day, make the pricing of our products increase,” he said.

He urged the government to take decisive action to foster a level playing field that would benefit both developers and consumers.

“So, all we are saying as developers is that responsible authorities should try as much as possible to create a transparent system devoid of rent-seeking and corruption, free from favoritism. So that I know that the rule that applies to me applies to all.

“So, if we can get to this level, it is going to help us. Not just the developers but even the consumers,” he said.