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Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019 — 27
Firm showcases opportunities in real estate investment, unveils
'New Lagos Homes'
By Kingsley Adegboye
Richlife Properties Ltd, a
subsidiary of Richlife
Commercial & Logistics Ltd,
which is into real estate
development with residential
estate locations across Lagos
and Ogun states, has revealed
that real estate investment is
the most profitable investment
with a returns on investment
ROI.
It added that smart investors
always have the foresight of
where the world is going pertime
and then position
themselves to become richer.
Making the revelation
weekend at a one-day
investors’ forum showcasing
opportunities in investing in
real estate in Lagos, the
Managing Director of the
group of companies, Mr.
Bankole Oluwasheyi, who
said this is the first investors’
forum to be organised by the
group, noted that there is
future in investing in real
estate because of abundant
benefits to be derived from
such investment.
Richlife boss who said if
Alinko Dangote, the richest
man in Africa, is still investing
and diversifying across
businesses, asked why won’t
Richlife continue to invest in
real estate.
According to him, the
initiative to invest in real estate
will address housing deficit
currently facing the country,
pointing out that why
investors should invest in
Richlife’s housing projects is
that “We have over 10,000
customer base, 16 estates
across the country, capital
base of N4 billion in three
years of the company with
workforce of over 1000. With
these achievements of the
company in just three years of
commencing business, it
means we are in a position to
talk about business
opportunities”.
Speaking on importance of
real estate investment, Mr.
Uduak Ekpenyong, a director
in the group, said investing in
real estate is a win win
situation for everybody
including the company,
investors and even the land
owners.
According to him, because
the real estate company buys
land in hectares, it will bring
about economy of scale,
meaning it is cheaper when
one is buying land in acres or
hectares, adding that the
subscribers to the housing
scheme will not have problems
with land grabbers.
He said above all, the land
in question continues to
appreciate in value and will
have a high return on
investment ultimately.
On profitability of investing
in real estate, Mr. Olufemi
Awonuga, said apart from profit
making by investing in real
estate, other benefits of the
investment include full control
of the property by the investor,
there is an investment for
every budget, which means
that whatever your budget is,
you will have property to invest
in.
Awonuga pointed out that
investment in real estate is
flexible, it does not require
special skill to do that, it is not
too late to invest in real estate,
it is one of the most profitable
investments, and a few years
after investment, you will be
glad you did.
Unveiling New Lagos Homes
which is located in Ibeju-Lekki,
Oluwasheyi said the estate is
a 30 acres property situated in
the strategic and developing
ASpecial Interest Group
SIG, comprising
individuals operating in the real
estate sector have come together
under the aegis of the School of
Estate to address the myriads of
lingering housing challenges in
Nigeria.
School of Estate is a business
training school that specializes in
Real Estate and Estate
Management courses. They
adopt concepts that enhance
participants’ knowledge of real
estate, particularly in Nigeria
where there is a flexible entry
and exit into the market.
Subsequently, as part of a
triangulation approach to
scientific policy work on
challenges and opportunities in
funding housing development
projects in Nigeria, a focus group
session was organised recently at
the Maryland, Lagos office of the
school for the group to officially
commence its activities with key
area of Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos,
pointing out that the axis is
the new Lagos as a result of
the high concentration of
developments springing up in
the area such as Dangote
Refinery which is expected to
be the world’s biggest singletrain
facility estimated to cost
14 billion dollars, Lekki
International Airport, Deep
sea port, Free Trade Zone
and others.
He said “”This offer is an
opportunity for you to invest
and own a piece of the New
Lagos Homes. After two years,
the investors gets back his
principal, 20 per cent interest
per annum and still retains
his plot within the estate after
this two years period
depending on amount
invested. N10 million
investment for two years gets
20 per cent guaranteed return
on investment per annum and
800 square metres plot in the
New Lagos Homes currently
valued at N5 million”,
Oluwasheyi stated.
FG can’t solve 17m housing deficit alone — Refin Homes
•Targets 250m houses annually in Lagos
By Chiamaka
Uba&Tolulope Oke
Aleading real estate firm,
Refin Homes, has
concluded plans to build 250
houses yearly in Lagos to
address the housing deficit in the
country, saying the Federal
Government cannot respond to
the 17 million housing deficit
alone. The firm said this in Lagos
at a breakfast event to discuss
the housing challenges in the
country, entitled: Create The
Future.
The forum was a one-on-one
interactive session between the
brand, the media and other
stakeholders.
According to the MD/CEO of
One of Richlife's Estates
Refin Homes, Mr Olatunde
Macaulay, the company came
into the real estate market to
focus on providing alternative
housing solutions that add value
to lives, especially the underserved
middle to lower end
spectrum.
He said: “For over 10 years, a
17 million housing deficit has
been bandied around. The
government cannot handle this
deficit alone. There has to be
public/private partnerships and
other private institutions such
as ours, must help the
government in reducing this
huge housing deficit as soon as
possible.
This is our second year. Our
aim is to build 250 houses yearly.
School of Estate, stakeholders move against housing deficit
players in the housing sector in
attendance.
Speaking at the event, Mr.
Gbadebo Adejana of Realty Point
Ltd challenged developers to
take the bull by the horn and stop
waiting for the government to do
everything while they sit, relax
and shift blames.
According to him, the housing
deficit quoted in 2005 which was
at 10 million has increased to
21million according to the last
statistics quoted by the media,
stressing that what this means is
that the sector is not meeting its
yearly requirement. He said
instead of hanging everything
on the shoulder of the
government, he wondered why
stakeholders do not go beyond
discussions and start taking
actions.
Mr. Adejana therefore called on
real estate professionals across
board start an organisation that
is self-regulating, and where
We have houses we are
building currently. Right now
we are in Lagos and our home
assurance scheme is from N1
million to N55 million”.
On the tragic building
collapse at Ita-Faji, Lagos
Island, Macaulay added that
it is important for builders and
real estate firms to follow strict
guidelines and approvals set
by the regulatory bodies before
putting any structure in place.
According to the company,
the theme, “Create The
Future” is a strategic platform
that calls the attention of all
Nigerians on the need to plan
ahead today by putting in place
modalities that ensure a solid
roof over their heads. “The
future is not somewhere
distant, the future is now, and
they can project themselves
and make themselves known to
the world, adding that with this,
it would be easier to resolve
issues within the organisation
because everyone knows the
necessary channels to go to, as
if one arm is not performing to
its responsibilities, it would be
easy to know who to hold
accountable. “It is high time we
stopped passing the ball
around and taking actions” he
said.
In the focus group discussion,
participants proposed that
government should, as a matter
of urgency, declare a state of
emergency in the real estate
sector, noting that some of the
issues confronting housing
sector that require urgent
attention include gap in the
knowledge-base on project
financing, the short-term nature
of available funds, high interest
rates and a lack of a database on
we want to sit with Nigerians to
plan based on your desires and
capacity to give you the home
of your dreams” Macaulay
added.
Also speaking at the event, cofounder
of the firm, Mr.
Kazeem Owolabi advocated for
efforts to be directed more at
providing affordable housing for
the middle and lower classes of
the society. He said it was
unacceptable that Nigerians
work so hard and yet, many of
them cannot even think of
owning their own homes.
He believes that in the long
term, the Nigerian economy
becomes the biggest beneficiary
of a system that makes it easy
for people to own quality and
affordable homes.
funding sources etc.
According to a policy
consultant, Mr. Olufemi Omotayo,
a report has shown that only about
10 per cent of Nigerians can afford
housing, insisting that housing
policies need to be involved to
bridge the gap. He listed some of
the problems facing the sector as
high cost of labour, land and
building materials which make
the whole process cumbersome.
The group noted that prior to the
dialogue, the literature review
and survey showed that housing
deficit had lingered for too long
in the sector and no one seems to
be ready to own up to it, pointing
out that the theoretical framework
also acknowledged the role of
government and the organised
private sector have played in
recent times to aid housing
development with initiatives like
Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing
Company, Family Homes Fund,
Mortgage Warehousing etc.