Increase in surveying fees will lead to rent hikes – Guardian Poll

In spite of the justification of the increase in surveying fees in Lagos State, a survey by The Guardian reveals that the hike will most likely lead to a rent hike in the state.

The Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) said last week that it increased the fees to ensure that members continue to offer quality service to property owners. However, the likely beneficiaries of the touted improved quality of service, which NIS said was the reason it jacked up the fees, were sceptical of its benefits.

In an online poll conducted by The Guardian between April 5 and 6, 75 percent of the respondents said the increase would lead to a hike in rents in a state where a burgeoning population outpaces housing development.

While 14 per cent of the respondents were upbeat the increment would not manifest in rent hikes, a paltry 11 per cent, however, said it would help check the indiscriminate construction of houses.

Gbenga Alara, who chairs the Lagos chapter of NIS insisted the increment was not arbitrary but in the best interest of the people. In determining the cost, he said, two components of pricing came to play, as well as the intellectual input, the status of the land, the value of the property and the direct cost of the proposed land to be surveyed.

The chapter had raised the land survey plan fees by over 300 per cent, starting from April 1, and the fees cut across different zones of the state.

For instance, Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Ojo and Ajeromi Ifelodun local government areas where the survey fees stood at N120,000 before the increment now stands at N350,000, while Lagos Island, Eti- Osa, Ikeja and Apapa, which was previously N300,000, now goes for N1million.

Also, Somolu, Alimoso, Mushin, Agege, Ibeju Lekki, Kosofe, Lagos Mainland, and Amuwo Odofin local governments, formerly pegged at N180,000, has been hiked to N650, 000.