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By Romanus Okoye
The Chief Executive Officer of CDV Properties Development Limited, Chief Charles Mba, has said that housing for all can be possible if government partners directly with developers, reduce cost of buying land and import duties paid on imported building materials.
Mba said his firm develops houses that average Nigeria can afford with all the luxuries and that the secret to affordable housing in Nigeria is for the government to work in synergy with real estate professionals.
“CDV started with luxurious houses, but as the economy changed, we switched to building affordable homes for the middle class income earners in the society. Government owns the land and should collaborate with the developers to bring down the cost of building houses,” he said.
“The cost of purchasing land and import duties paid on finishing materials contribute to make housing too expensive and these are areas the government has control and can do something. Even the current recession around the world has added to the problems.”
He lamented that COVID-19 almost crippled the industry housing as the sector was completely short down with most countries producing raw materials used in finishing suffered from the pandemic. Even now, most of them have not resumed full production, leading to the scarcity of building materials in addition to the unfavourable exchange rate regime. All these have affected pricing and sales.”
CDV is a big player in the industry and has a new project called Apple Wood 2 and Apple Wood 3 Estates, located at Orchid Road and VGC respectively. The houses are offered at a payment plan of two years, with an initial down payment of 20 per cent (N7.8 million) for a four bedroom terrace house worth N38.9 million, and the balance spread across two years for easy and flexibility of payment.
Mba implored the government to encourage developers, even as he thanked the Lagos State government for its efforts in extending infrastructure to every corner of the state.
