The Lagos State government on Tuesday vowed to clamp down on illegal real estate practitioners operating within the state by 2024.

The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, said this at a day stakeholders’ engagement and interactive session organised by the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) in Lagos.

Ms Odunuga-Bakare stated that developers, agents and other players in the real estate business needed to register or renew their yearly subscription with LASRERA before they could operate.

She said, “Next year is not going to be business as usual for those in the real estate business that are not registered with LASRERA because they are practising illegally.

“We will also not spare those who are registered and do not renew their yearly subscription with the agency.

“If the LASRERA’s enforcement team discovers any realtor that is advertising their companies without the logo of LASRERA alongside theirs, such organisation will be brought to book.’’

Ms Odunuga-Bakare said that in achieving its mandate of sanitising the real estate sector, the agency planned to open satellite offices in each local government area.

She explained that this would ease the registration process for real estate practitioners and help the agency have comprehensive data on practitioners within the state.

Ms Odunuga-Bakare urged victims of real estate fraud to channel their complaints and petitions to LASRERA under her leadership for necessary action.

She assured Lagos state residents and stakeholders in the housing sector of her commitment to supporting and collaborating with them as they navigate the real estate terrain in the state.

In his address, the permanent secretary, Land Bureau, Lagos State, Kamar Olowoshago, said the state government was working toward digitising the process of acquiring land in the state and would launch it soon.

Mr Olowoshago explained that digitisation aimed to reduce the bureaucracy of acquiring land and authenticate the status of the land to prevent being defrauded.

“Digitisation is a work in progress and will be launched very soon, as the governor is passionate about it.

“I can assure you that in a couple of months, land administration in Lagos state is going to be different,” he said.

In his remark, the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) chairman, Bamidele Onalaja, lauded the special adviser for hosting the crucial stakeholders’ engagement.

(NAN)