Professionals seek review of building approval process

Real estate professionals say there is need for a review of the present building approval process in order to grow the real estate sector which currently accounts for 7.6 percent of Nigeria’s recently rebased gross domestic product (GDP).

The professionals who canvassed this review under the aegis of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) insist that the review and subsequent relaxing of the tedious process of acquiring building approvals in most parts of the country has become necessary because it is a threat to the sector’s growth.

According to them, if relaxed, it would signpost government’s willingness to provide an enabling environment for over 80 percent of private individuals and real estate developers who have been burdened by the current cumbersome process of accessing building plan approvals.

Speaking at a one-day seminar on ‘Challenges of Planning Approval and its Effects on Housing Development in Nigeria’, Flavio Nunes, world president, FIABCI, explained that a major catalyst to reducing Nigeria’s housing deficit could be through a quicker building approval process, stressing that a slower process slows housing delivery.

Comparing Nigeria’s 16 million housing shortfall with Brazil’s 5 million, Nunes pointed out that in Brazil, building approval process was not responsible for the nation’s housing shortfall but rather economic challenges. However, according to him, while a building approval plan for simple developments could take about six months in Brazil, a more complex development takes an average of one year, with Singapore taking only  four weeks. This, he believes, should be the trend in Nigeria provided that a safe process is maintained.

To Victor Emdin of Mepas & Prodel Nigeria Limited, agreed, recommending that a three-week period should be allowed for approving building plan in areas such as Lagos and Abuja where huge investment has been made in mapping and planning.

In addition, Emdin suggested that zonal planning officers should be delegated with responsibilities of granting approvals in their zones to hasten the process.

Yemi Idowu, chairman, Aircom Nigeria Limited, in his submission, noted that considering the bottlenecks associated with accessing building plan approvals and the high incidence of plan altercations, Nigerians should be manufacturing homes through prefabricated building systems where issues of plan altercation were minimal rather than the conventional building systems.

Olutoyin Ayinde, commissioner for physical planning and urban development, Lagos State, in his remarks, was however convinced that the state had made tremendous effort in hastening the process in recent time, explaining that plans take longer to be approved because, “most times people do not subscribe to the right processes but rather prefer to cut corners, thereby elongating a simple process.”

ODINAKA MBONU