Tax incentives ‘ill boost housing – Stakeholder

A stakeholder in the real estate sector, Meckson Okoro has said that tax incentive to the sector will boost it, and provide one of the ways out of the housing deficit currently facing the country.

This is just as he urged the government to give free land to cooperatives as a way of encouraging them to deliver houses for the benefit of the larger society.
Okoro’s views were contained in a speech he delivered at the launching of a housing scheme being developed and promoted by Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society (PREICS) in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.

He observed that cooperation and collaboration were the way to go for homeownership because of the capital intensive nature of real estate investment.

“Real estate is too capital intensive for just one individual to embark upon. If the individual is wealthy enough, there will be no problem, but how many Nigerians can afford their own houses? We are affected by low income and lack of opportunity for private wealth creation.

For instance, it takes a productive individual in Nigeria to save up to cost of N5 million to buy a house except he is one of those engaged in corruption in their work places,” he said.
He noted that, in a country of over 180 million people, not up to 20 per cent of the population can boast of owning their houses unlike countries such as Singapore, Cuba, etc where home-ownership is a secondary problem.

“Up to 75 percent of the population of these countries can boast of their own homes”, he added.

He advised that the shortest way to solving homeownership problem was through a cooperative society like PREICS.

Okoro advised Nigerians to see real estate as a viable investment asset class, which serves as a store of value, appreciates exponentially and makes a reasonable return on investment.
He said,“Real estate is a better store of wealth because it appreciates in value and, therefore, enhances returns on investment.”

Continuing, he said, “If you check parcels of land which were cheap back in the years, their values have now gone up significantly. Also, check the house rents that were peanuts back then, you would see how much the rents have increased.

Okoro advised Nigerians to see real estate as a viable investment asset class which serves as a store of value, appreciates exponentially and makes a reasonable return on investment.

“Real estate is a better store of wealth because it appreciates in value and, therefore, enhances returns on investment”, he said.

Continuing, he said, “If you check parcels of land which were cheap back in the years, their values have now gone up significantly. Also, check the house rents that were peanuts back then, you would see how much the rents have increased” he said

Okoro added that the cash flow from real estate investment is constant and predictable, but subject to good tenants who are willing to pay their rent as at when due. “There is also high return on investment with little risk potential in real estate because of the ever-increasing demand for housing and land”, he assured.