In a bid to reduce housing deficit, a real estate firm, UPDC and member of Custodian Investment Plc has urged the government to create jobs, which will enable people to own homes in the country.
CEO, UPDC, Odunayo Ojo, who spoke at the second yearly real estate summit with the theme ‘Real Estate Investment in a Challenging Economy’, lamented that a lot of people do not have enough income to afford homes.
He pledged to provide jobs through their projects in different locations in the country. “When we create well-paying jobs on our projects, we increase people’s ability to demand homes and when there is effective demand, the supply would come. And that is the way the market works.
“If you go and build a lot of houses today and there is nobody to buy them, you lose money. So creation of jobs is one of our strategies of solving the housing problem,” he stated.
At the ground breaking of its new up market mixed development, ‘Hampshire’, which is located in Monastery Road, Sangotedo, Lekki area of Lagos State, Ojo disclosed that the new estate is seated in a five-hectare land and consists of 64 plots.
The Hampshire residence is designed to harmoniously blend luxury and tranquility, offering a unique space to thrive and invest in the future.
Some of the features include visitors parking, tree-lined road networks, water and sewage treatment plants, power supply, park and picnic area for the estate residents, state of the arts infrastructure such as, solar power streetlights, energy efficient installations, underground water systems, overhead water systems, among others.
He explained that the project consists of low, medium and high-density residential plots. “The low-density residential plots are sized from 300 square metres and one can build a single family house.
“Medium density plot sizes are from 553 square meters and you can build semi-detached houses. For high-density plots, they are sized from 900 square metres and one can build an apartment on them.
“There are also two commercial plots with the size of about 2,435 square metres where an individual can build different complimentary commercial uses like schools, cafes, gym, lounges and everything that people need in this neighbourhood,” he explained.
Ojo added that there is a 3,000 square metres communal area, which will be the focal point of development where children can play, people can have their recreation and among others.
The project, which runs into billions of naira, will start this month and be completed by February 2025.
On the aspect of affordability, Ojo said it’s a key issue given the economic challenges we face; noting that the firm will ensure the development is efficient.
“We have looked at our designs to streamline some of the areas of waste. In the past, people were building in large spaces that amount to higher cost, but very little use. So, we are making our development more compact and efficient, which will bring down the cost.
“We are also providing a solar power system so that in the future, the buyer won’t worry about digital and electricity costs. We are using these strategies to lower the cost of acquisition and maintenance of our properties,” he said.
