Lagos seeks stakeholders’ compliance with real estate laws

The Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority has called for cooperation from built industry players in the quest towards ensuring compliance with statutory stipulations for real estate development.

The Authority made the call during a stakeholders’ meeting held in Lagos last Wednesday.

Speaking during the meeting, LASPPPA General Manager, Kehinde Osinaike, urged industry practitioners to abide by the legal framework of Lagos State’s regulatory apparatuses.

According to Osinaike, the morphology of towns and cities was determined by development plans, which were government policies and proposals for the use of land. All these, he said, were meant to achieve orderliness and efficient functioning of cities, towns and villages.

He said, “Research has shown that direct investments on building construction are often secured through bank loans. On that note, no one will want his/her request for Planning Permit delayed unnecessarily. In the same manner, people will neither want their properties sealed nor demolished during construction. The urge to guide against the occurrence of this ugly menace is one of the reasons for this stakeholders meeting.”

“It is important to inform this gathering that in a total departure from the past, the Government of Babajide Sanwoolu believes strongly in voluntary compliance approach to Planning Permit and that is why we have played down on the use of force, coarseness(enforcement) in the implementation of physical planning policies and programmes.”

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Okanla, said the ongoing enforcement drive of the various agencies saddled with the responsibility of regulating the built industry was borne out of a high level of non-compliance.

He advised the stakeholders to carry out their developmental projects within the ambit of the law as punitive measures would come with a significant cost to erring developers.

Source:Punch