The rising number of city dwellers in Nigeria which is made worse by growing population leading to overcrowding and growth of informal settlements or slums have become a source of worry to experts in towns and regional planning.
Among other factors, this development is caused by inefficient land markets, rigid banking systems, failed policies, and a fundamental lack of political interest and these are true of most towns and cities in Nigeria where the growth reflects their size and rate of urbanization.
In Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, the growth of informal settlement is not only high, but also pervasive. Most parts of the city, except highbrow locations like Ikoyi, Victoria Island and a few others, have different levels of slum development within their neighbourhoods.
According to the experts, informal settlements do not grow as accidents but because somebody somewhere has done or not done something that made that growth to happen
A recent report by Northcourt Real Estate cites Katsina State where it notes that due to irregular layouts, poor accessibility, congestion and a lack of basic infrastructural services, informal land development is the main system of development in their metropolis.
As part of the features of informal settlements, the report said that in Tudun Yan-Lihidda part of the state, the average plot size is approximately 64 percent of the minimum standards prescribed by urban planning regulations, with some plots being as little as one-third of the normal requirement.
“Roads are typically 40 percent less than the minimum regulatory requirements— unpaved, and prone to erosion, with limited access, particularly during the rainy season. Drainages are 50 percent below required regulatory levels, while setbacks are 42percent below minimum regulatory standards,” Ayo Ibaru, COO at Northcourt, said.
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He added that, in such settlements, houses are densely populated, exceeding the minimum number of people per square metre ratio requirement by 25 percent.
“Trespassing, encroachment, and double or multiple sales and allocations are major causes of land tenure disputes that hinder sustainable land tenure and subsequent real estate investment and development,” Ibaru said.
He cited a recent study of the Uyo real estate market in Akwa Ibom State which suggests that a large proportion of the population disregards securing legal titling through formal land registration before embarking on any real estate investment decision.
Such people, he said, are wary of the additional costs that this attracts, choosing rather to have informal arrangements with regulatory officials when contraventions are highlighted. “Land title registration processes have been shown to increase the building costs and loan rates of many proposed projects in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,” Ibaru noted.
To facilitate real estate investment and development and eliminate land tenure conflicts, Ibaru suggested that public and private actors must reach common solutions, adding that reducing land encroachment requires local governments choosing to prepare registered floor plans that are referenced by state land title offices before issuing land titles.
“Reducing encroachment on state property may require site layouts rather than paper layouts as is the case with many government layouts,” he added, saying that inadequate infrastructure, excessive land costs, insufficient land documentation procedures and affordability are just a few of the impediments to gaining access to land through formal or informal channels.
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