Amosun slashes land document fees

Home and land owners in Ogun State have gotten what could be described as Christmas gifts as Governor Ibikunle Amosun slashed land title fees from N430, 000 to N100, 000.
Before the generous reductions, a building approval cost N275,000; survey plan was N60,000, stamp duty was N45,000 and the C of O was N50,000.
The new land title regime tagged Homeowner’s Charter now provides a sharp reduction in the cost offering building plan at N20,000; survey plan N20,000, stamp duty N20,000 and C of O N35,000.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun made the announcement when addressing a mammoth crowd at the Arcade Ground, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta for the commissioning of the Home owner’s charter programme.
Amosun stated that the scheme became necessary to make things easy for the people of the state and encourage them to build more houses which he described as a necessity.
He explained that those who had built their houses without obtaining all necessary documents from the state government should be given the opportunity to apply for them.
The governor assured those who built on government acquisition that they would be given waiver rather than demolishing the structures. He, however, noted that those who built under high tension cables and
on water channels would not benefit from the waiver as their structures would be demolished.
The people were also offered the opportunity of paying in instalment, but must complete payment within a period of six months.
The governor told the people that the measure became necessary as the Geographic Information System(GIS) satellite mapping carried out by the state recently revealed that many houses had no necessary recognized
title documents.
Condemning under registration of buildings in the state, Amosun blamed the development on under provision of social facilities in the affected areas as government usually based its projection on what the data showed.
According to the governor, “property ownership is not just a status symbol, neither does it simply provide a source of shelter or a source of rental income but it is increasingly the single most important and
valuable investment a person can make. Property across the world is prized and cherished, it is passed from generations to generations through wills, selling and exchanging.
“In some key areas, the vast majority of residential properties in Ogun State did not have legally recognized documentation in the form of Building Plan Approval or Certificates of Occupancy. In the past
10-12 years, the culture of building without approval had become rampant and well-orchestrated. Property owners often resorted to constructing at night and over weekends to evade the officials of the
Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning who were unable to monitor the sheer volume of the development. The consensus view that prevailed among the people was that once the property had been constructed, Government cannot and will not do anything about it.
“The consequences of building without approval are extremely serious for the people affected as well as Government and many homeowners are now regretting their false economy. Not only are the properties so
constructed, illegal but the uncontrolled development of properties create unplanned areas devoid of essential infrastructure such as water, schools, health facilities and road services. Owners of such
illegal property have now found themselves between the proverbial “devil and the deep blue sea”. They are unable to process ownership documents such as Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) since Building Plan Approval is a pre-requisite for such.
The governor however declared that the application forms for the charter commences as at yesterday, urging them to return them by next year February, “The application forms will go on sale today at our
partner banks and at our Homeowners Charter Centres across the state and must be returned by Friday, February 14, 2014.”
Source: PM News