Valuers seek reliable data in housing sector

• Lament dearth of professionals in National Housing Fund

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has disclosed plans to create verifiable data for prospective investors in the housing sector.Chairman of the Lagos branch of the institution, Rogba Orimolade, stated this yesterday during a courtesy visit to The Guardian in Lagos. He said the initiative, to be spearheaded in Lagos, would address the shortfalls in the nation’s housing supply.

Orimolade explained that the NIESV had already set up a resource centre at its new secretariat to achieve the objective.He added that there is an on-going collaboration among NIESV’s members to move the industry forward.

The chairman added that the institution’s members are involved in the ongoing numeration and valuation of real estate assets in Lagos State.He said: “The first stage involves going to each house to find out information on locations, units and others. The reason we supported the exercise is that in the next six months, we should be able to capture as much data as possible.He said its members were also making efforts to capture data through private initiatives, which the institution would support.

The Lagos state government had disclosed that the state has 700,000-captured units, adding that the NIESV would be able to know the exact figures at the end of the exercise.“That process would be driven through technology to arrive at various data across the local government areas,” he said.

The chairman added that its resource centre would be consistent in training its members to monitor capacity development and curtail quackery, and expressed concern about government’s preference for foreign firms.Orimolade noted that through media advocacy in the print media, the institution has been educating Nigerians on the need to patronise trained members of Estate Agents Association of Nigeria.

Also, the Vice Chairman of Lagos NIESV, Dotun Bamigbola said the dearth of data in the industry is a reflection of the uncertainty in determining the actual population figure in the country.According to him, if it stated that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population is within the age bracket 18-35, the authorities must be able to analyse if they are those within the marriage age, and are eligible for housing.The immediate past chairman of NIESV in the state, Samuel Ukpong lamented the low impact of the National Housing Fund (NHF) on the housing sector.He described the absence of core real estate professionals in its committee as a factor that had made it not to have the needed effect.