Estate developers call for frank discussions with govt
The Executive Chairman of JL Properties, Mr James Ato Orleans-Lindsay, has prevailed on the government to engage the private real estate developers in the country to help address the gaping housing deficit in the country.
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bu“We want better engagement with the government so we can have frank discussions on how to develop very affordable houses in the country to meet the pockets of the ordinary people,” he said.
In an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS soon after the launch of a multi-million dollar housing project (christened ‘Lindsay Enclave’) in Accra, he said, “there are too many taxes on building materials. We also pay taxes on the completed houses and the prices we charge.”
According to him, these are some of the reasons why houses are expensive in the country.
He said real estate developers were almost always bound to pass on the taxes to their customers to reduce the burden on them and noted that until the government demonstrated greater commitment to bridging the housing gap, there was nothing the developers could do.
“I can say in all fairness that should the taxes be removed, we can sell houses at less 30 per cent less the current prices we quote; trust me,” Mr Orleans-Lindsay said.
Housing deficit
The country’s housing deficit is now estimated to be around 1.5 million, with the gap widening by the day.
Although governments have tried in the past and present to put up some affordable houses in various parts of the country, a large percentage of the projects are incomplete, still leaving thousands of people without their own houses.
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Many calls by real estate developers on governments, both present and past, to find a more practical way to construct houses to meet the pockets of those in the lower income bracket especially have not yielded any positive results.
Although the present government has showed some sign of commitment by changing the VAT on Real Estate from 17.5 per cent to a flat rate of five per cent, the developers still want the tax removed to impact on the cost of houses.
Mr Orleans-Lindsay stated, “we need to talk and the houses will be made affordable because at the end of the day we want to sell more to many people.”
Linsday Enclave
‘Lindsay Enclave’ lies on the Achimota Golf Hills behind the Achimota Lorry station, and is a 52-unit housing project. It is a mixed development.
It has been exclusively constructed as part of the fifth phase of a major development by the company as part of efforts to transform and add more value to the Achimota enclave.
It has three-bedroom, four-bedroom and five-bedroom facilities made up of three-bedroom bungalows and four-and-five-bedroom storey houses.
Among the facilities in the units are en suite rooms with tiled floors. Each kitchen comes with fitted cupboards with microwave and gas cookers while the bedrooms have fitted wardrobes. They also have burglar-proof windows and high quality security doors.
All the rooms come with air-condition points. They also have well-designed parking lots with very big paved compound, beautiful landscape, glass sliding windows and doors.
Mr Orleans-Lindsay said the company provided a 24 hour security with regular rubbish collection as part of moves to secure the property and ensure a safe environment.
He said the property was strategically located and “it takes only about 15 minutes any day to drive to town.”
“We have used the best materials to put up these houses and we are selling at very affordable prices to meet the pockets of many,” he said.
He said the next phase of the project would be the construction of 150 houses in the area.
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