-What was the vision
behind setting up Fourscore Homes Ltd
Fourscore Homes started in London (Hackney) in 1997. I
bought a House on New Cross Road which i renovated, behind it, I bought a plot
and I was able to develop that plot into my first real estate project, that was
how i started building houses for sale.
I also noticed that many Nigerians at that time were
reluctant to go into construction but i believed anything was possible with God
on my side.
I developed over 50 projects in London and Manchester, from
there, we went to South Africa and built a number of Estates. After developing
so many properties abroad, i decided to come back to my country of birth, Nigeria,
and contribute my own quota to positive development.
Apart from developing residential houses, Fourscore homes
also deals in residential light fittings and other building Materials.
-What does your
company stand for? As a business what are your core values?
We are really passionate about value creation, we want
everyone who purchases real estate from us to derive maximum value for their
money. To achieve this, we go all out to ensure we chaperone the entire process
from design to completion, ensuring that we adhere to best practice while
minimizing our costs. This way we are able to deliver high quality units at the
best value for money.
-The real estate
landscape in Nigeria has changed dramatically in the last 20years, would you
say more developers are focusing on luxury properties instead of affordable
housing?
Yes, many developers build Luxury houses because they
believe that the demand for such properties is high, This is however not the
case anymore. There is a huge housing deficit of 17 Million Housing units in
Nigeria, the world bank recently provided a conservative estimate that this
would cost about 60 trillion Naira. This estimate is based on N3.5m Per unit.
It is obvious that the deficit is for mass affordable housing and not luxury
housing.
However, due to infrastructure deficits, land in areas where
there is adequate infrastructure is expensive . Also people generally don’t
want to spend money providing roads, electrification etc as this is primarily
the responsibility of the government.
Consequently they
want to maximise the returns on investment from their "expensive
land" and quickly too. That is why
you find many people building the kind of houses that will help them maximise
return on their investment.
- There is currently
an abundance of luxury housing in Nigeria which is out of reach to the common
man, what do you think is the solution to creating more affordable housing to
meet the pressing demand?
The Government needs to do more with access to affordable single digit Mortgages.
The Government (especially the State governments) who hold
land also need to go into partnerships with private developers. A situation where
the government will provide land for developers in return for a hugely
discounted houses is desirable.
Another thing the government can also do to assist and
support is to simplify and speed up approval processes.
Really, the Government should not be involved in building
houses that cost N40million in a country where the minimum wage is N18,000. I
think anyone who wants to buy a 40 Million naira house should be able to do
that himself. Low cost housing should not cost more than 3-5million Naira.
- How has Fourscore Homes
played its part in addressing the housing deficit in Nigeria?
Since we arrived in Nigeria, we have built over 400 housing units
in Ikoyi, Ikeja, Ogudu, Isheri, Ogun State and Abuja and we are not about to
stop.
-Arguably, Nigeria is
home to some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Do you think that
the value of these properties is sustainable in the long term?
Oh Yes.
What normally determines the price of properties is demand
and supply especially for debt free houses which dominate the Nigerian real
estate space.
As long as the government continues to develop
infrastructure, roads, electrification, etc, upmarket real estate will continue
to sustain its prices. If there will be a drop, it will only be marginal.
-Please tell us about
some of the properties you have developed, how much would you say they are
worth in total?
Remember that we don’t hold on to most of our properties. We
develop and sell, but based on the present value of all the properties we have
developed, they are worth over 40 Billion Naira.
We developed the Fourscore
Mansions in London , the Shalom
Apartments in Ikoyi, Nigeria and several housing units all over, Lagos,
Ogun state and Abuja.
-What do you think of
the Government’s efforts at housing development in Nigeria?
I am aware that Lagos state has done so much at PPP
developments.
Lagos state should do more and other states should also do
this.
When Government gives out Land to develop mass housing, this
goes a long way to reduce the cost of development and definitely brings house
ownership within the reach of the masses.
-What is the future
of real estate development in Nigeria?
I believe the future is very bright, if the Government gets
it right. We need to start from the basics, If the Government performs better
in terms of providing the much needed infrastructure, it will attract more
foreign direct investments and the sky is the limit.
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