PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

New property registration scheme to create 22,000 titles in Lagos
By Akinpelu Dada

Punch, Monday 22nd March 2010

Over 22,000 new property titles are to be created by the Lagos State Government for subscribers to its various housing estates in a scheme designed to help give life to the assets so that they can be used for various transactions.

The allottees of government estates built by the state’s Ministry of Housing, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation and the Lagos Building Investment Company Limited, who got letters of allocation on or before December 31, 1999, have between April 15 and July 15, 2010 to take advantage of the new scheme.

Unfolding the details of the scheme in Ikeja on Thursday, Governor Babatunde Fashola, announced that his government would not make life unbearable for the residents of the estates, majority of whom acquired their properties 20 to 50 years ago without perfecting their titles, but was interested in making their "dead assets" come alive.

His announcement of fixed prices for the acquisition of Deed of Sub-lease for the property owners drew large applause from the crowd, majority of whom had feared that the government was only interested in making money from the scheme.

Each allottee in low-income estates, according to the governor, is to pay a lump sum of N10,000 to cover legal and administrative charges, while those in medium income estates are to pay N15,000. Those in upper income estates are to pay N20,000, after which they will get legal titles to their properties.

The governor said, "Many of you have at one time or the other tried to raise money to finance your business, buy a car, or even another home or discharge some financial commitment, only to be told by the bank, financial institution or creditor that you have no collateral.

"The truth is that while those creditors are correct, it does not mean that you are poor or not worthy of credit. It simply means that your assets, your shops, your flats and other landed properties are not held in the prescribed form that the bank will accept. So, your assets are, in a manner of speaking, dead."

Fashola added, "What we are here to do today is to wake up your dead assets, put them in the prescribed form, transfer them from mere allocation letters to title deeds that are stamped, registered and traceable, that will create collateral and bring you to a new world of wealth."

He said that the first phase of the initiative to harmonise the processes of perfection of sub-lease title documents issued to allottees of housing units in all government housing estates had been completed.

The governor said this was to create a uniform proceedure and to encompass the usual rights of parties in the documents of titles issued to allottees.

The second phase of the initiative, according to him, is to encourage the allottees, majority of whom are now old and retired, to come forward, obtain their title deeds and register such at the Lands Registry at a considerably reduced lump sum.

The governor urged the allottees to resist any request to pay anything outside the amounts he had mentioned, while also assuring those who had paid for title perfection to either the LSDPC or LBIC in the past not to entertain any fear of double payment, as they would not be required to pay any more money, but said that they needed to submit their old documents in order to get the titles.

Responding to a complaint by one Pastor Olatunde from Jakande Low-Cost Estate, Isolo, that the LBIC was not keeping to the agreement between it and the allottees on insurance of the blocks of flats beyond the life of the mortgage granted, Fashola said that it was in the best interest of the property owners to insure their assets against fire, noting that the premium payable was insignificant.

The President, Ilasan Housing Estate Residents‘ Association, Alhaji Tajudeen Jegede, echoed some other people in the audience whose estates were not listed in the 95 that would benefit from the title registration initiative, saying that the fate of residents of Ilasan and Ikota estates, used to resettle those evicted from Maroko, was unclear.

However, the Managing Director, LBIC, Mr. Babatunde Jinadu, said that though the two estates were used to resettle the Maroko evictees through a government gazette and letter from the New Towns Development Authority, they would be allowed to take part in the new scheme.

A resident of Ayangburen Jubilee Estate, Ikorodu, Mrs. Cecilia Egbosue, sought clarifications on the inclusion of her estate in the list because it was not expressly stated. She also complained that she had paid for sub-lease on her property in 2005, though she was yet to get the document, and urged the governor to visit the estate to see for himself the acute water shortage being experienced.

Fashola assured her and others in her category that their estates were included in the scheme and that those who had paid earlier would not pay again. He said that the government‘s recent investment in water provision would soon yield results and that the estates would soon be connected to the water mains.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Land Matters, Mr. Aina Salami, said that the government had taken cognisance of when the estates were built and had come up with minimal fees to be paid for the sub-leases in order not to over burden the allottees.

He explained that the allottees would need to present their original letters of allocation for verification, after which they would be returned to them, while they would also need to obtain a form free of charge to register for the new scheme.

The Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Gbenga Ashafa, while welcoming participants to the forum, said that the new initiative had a lot of benefits that would accrue to the property owners when title documents to property acquisitions were obtained and registered.