REGULATING THE PRACTICE OF ESTATE AGENCY IN LAGOS

The perception of the populace on the activities of estate agents particularly in our major cities where housing has always been a crucial issue is that of greed, deceit, and extortion, as it is now a commonplace occurrence as the atrocious estate agents have become a source of sorrow for the hordes of accommodation seekers in Nigeria.

Accommodation seekers in Lagos are more vulnerable to the whims and caprices of the estate agents for reasons of inadequate housing stock, size and population, occasioned by its cosmopolitan nature being the former seat of government in Nigeria and the commercial nerve centre of the West African sub-region, making the city attractive to those seeking greener pastures.

Just recently, the media was awash with the news of an estate agent who reportedly collected huge sums of money from prospective tenants over and above the number of available apartments in a property.

It must, however, be noted that there are quite a number of honest and professional agents out there. Determined to provide the missing link in the quest to checkmate the rate of disturbing neglect and fraud ravaging the state in the real estate sector as part of its responsibility to see to the welfare of the citizenry of the state, the Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration inaugurated the Lagos State Real Estate Transactions Department (LASRETRAD) to strictly monitor and regulate the practice of estate agency and prosecute those who contravene the laws on Real Estate in the state.

The agency which is expected to be a one-stop shop for all activities and enquiries on real estate transactions in Lagos State has since commenced operations in line with the enabling laws that established it.

It is pertinent however to state that as much as the government is committed to the regulation of estate agency practice, legalistic approach alone may not be enough to solve the problem of quack agents. It must be a collective resolve to push the dubious agents out of business.

Every stakeholder in real estate sector, Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Architects, Civil Engineers and Builders and other professionals in the property business must key into the initiative and join hands with the government to make a success of the efforts. The government on its part must demonstrate, as it has done in the past, a committed spirit to ensure that this regulation is given enough ‘teeth’ to bite whenever it is necessary.