- Unveils Estates in Lagos, Imo and Enugu
A real estate development company, Ifitech and Associates Limited has said it plans to build over 2000 housing units in different parts of the country before the end of next year.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Ifeanyi Isaac, the objective of Ifitech and Associates Limited from 2008, when it was established and incorporated to start the business of developing and managing estates in Nigeria was to provide affordable and low-cost housing to ordinary Nigerians in the most convenient way.
“To achieve this objective, over the last eight years, we have dedicated ourselves to acquiring land in three states in Nigeria, namely Lagos, Enugu and Imo State. In Lagos; at Ibeju-lekki to be precise, we currently have six schemes, in Imo State we have to two schemes and in Enugu we only have one scheme. All these schemes come under the name; Westpoint Gardens and Solid Base Gardens Estate.”
“Since we target prospective landlords in the lowest end of the property ladder or those that are considered to be low-income earners, prices of plots in our estates start from as low as N250k. Our most expensive estates are the ones in Ibeju-Lekki axis near the Dangote Refinery, Free Trade Zone and other upcoming landmark projects in Lagos and the price of plots in these estates range from between N1million and N2.5million, Isaac explained.
He added that in also ensuring the objectives of the firm is achieved, payment for plots in all the company’s estates have been structured to run over a period of six to twelve months. “Buyers who pay out-rightly will be able to buy at cheaper prices, while those that want to spread payment over twelve months will only have to pay a little higher that those than can make full payment”.
“We currently have over 2,000 subscribers and they have all started to build their own houses added to the ones the firm is building and selling to those who may not want to go through the rigors of starting from land ownership. We hope that by the end of 2017, we would have been able to deliver a minimum of 2000 housing units and that by 2020 we would have been able to deliver over 10,000 housing units. We are determined and we already have more than 200 personnel helping to push this ambition. We understand the challenges in the economy but with the determination we will surely get there”.
Despite building these estates to target low-income earners, Isaac explained that Ifitech and Associates Limited will also ensure that residents of the estates and property owners have access to top-notch infrastructure. “All our estates currently have perimeter fencing with road networks, drainage systems, water, security, play areas for family and shopping centers. We are hoping to create estates that will function with a communal lifestyle, where people will live in peace and harmony irrespective of religion or ethnicity”.
On the challenge of reducing Nigeria’s housing deficit, Isaac says the government should start to partner with competent real estate developers like Ifitech and Associates Limited. “This can be done through Private Public Partnership (PPP) where the government provides land to developers at reduced prices and ensure that houses that are built come into the property market at reduced prices. The government can also ensure that Mortgage Banks provide long term payment facilities for the developed houses and ensure that the interest rate is at single digit. The government should also give concessions in the areas of payments for land documentation and titles so that developers can be able to give bargain prices to ordinary Nigerians. This are things the government can do and over the next twenty years the housing deficit in the country would have been reduced to the barest minimum”, he explained.
He says Ifitech and Associates Limited is currently working with the Imo State Government to provide mass housing and the firm is still looking for opportunities with other states to develop affordable mass housing for Nigerians.
