Certificate of Occupancy C of O in Lagos

An estate surveyor and valuer, Emmanuel Efuntayo, has said that the reduction of the period for obtaining certificate of occupancy from nine months to 30 days is good for the real estate industry.Efuntayo, in a paper with the theme: “Wealth creation through Real Estate Investment in Nigeria,” said that the Land Use Act had created a number of difficulties on the concept of land as a marketable commodity.He said all landed property transactions have to be consented to by the governor.According to him, apart from the additional cost of burden of obtaining such consent, investor’s time is wasted as a result of the long processing time.He said that financial institutions are often wary of financing real estate investment because of the time it takes to perfect transaction.In Lagos State, for example, until recently it took an average of nine months to obtain governor’s consent.However, the state government has recently initiated a 30-day consent regime to facility speedy property exchange. The fees have also been revised downwards to 15 per cent of the value of the property. The breakdown of the fees are as follows: Consent fees, 8 per cent; Capital gains tax, 2 per cent; Stamp duty, 2 per cent and Registration fee, 3 per cent, he said.Efuntayo said that as laudable as the initiative is, he personally believe that the fees are still too high, adding that one would have expected a lower fee regime capable of encouraging investors to deal thus leading to a high consent transactions turnover.He said that it is recommended that while other fees as stated above are still retained, consent fees should not be more than 2 per cent.He said: “Lagos State should be commended for computerising its lands registry with a view to further facilitating quick and cost effective property exchange. One only hopes that cases of cloning of certificate of occupancy and other sharp practices being perpetrated by fraudsters in collaboration with unscrupulous officials will be addressed by the new system.

Above article culled from The Sun Newspaper

However what the government of the day should be wary of is the unscrupulous officials that takes advantages on hapless citizens that are interested in obtaining this paper.
When corruption is curbed probably we will have more people coming out not only to register and approve their buildings but also to make sure they don’t encroach into acquired lands by government.
For the C of O, I have a document issued out in year 2,000 it should still be valid with little additions if there is any
? REQUIREMENTS
?1?LAND INFORMATION CERT? (ORIGINAL) APPL? FEE N1,000
2?APPLICATION FORM(RESIDENTIAL-N2,000, IND/COMM?N3,000) WITH ‘VITAL INFORMATION FORM’ ATTACHED.
3.COPY OF LAND PURCHASE RECEIPT/AGREEMENT (DULY STAMPED)
4. 4 NO. SUNPRINT COPY OF SURVEY PLAN (PAPER OR CLOTH)
5. 4 NO. PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPHS (INDIVIDUAL)
6.TAX CLEARANCE CERT. & N100 DEVT. LEVY7.COPIES OF ALL OFFICIAL RECEIPTS (APPLICATION FORM,LAND INFORMATION FEE & PROCESSING FEE)
8.PROCESSING FEE (BANK DRAFT TO LASG:RESIDENTIAL-N10,000IND/COMM.-N20,000
9.COPY OF APPROVED BUILDING PLAN (ELEVATION IF DEVELOPED)
10.TENEMENT RATE RECEIPT (IF OCCUPIED)
11.COPY OF CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION/REGISTRATION(COMPANIES OR GROUP OWNERSHIP).
12. SITE LOCATIONAL SKETCH
13.CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT LEVY(a)RESIDENTIAL-N30,000(b)COMMERCIAL AND PLACE OF WORSHIP-N40,000(c)INDUSTRIAL-N55,000

14? A COVERING LETTER TO : THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, LAND USE AND ALLOCATION OFFICE, GOVERNORS OFFICE, IKEJA: STATING ALL DOCUMENTS ATTACHED.

Updated today 23rd of August 2008

The government policies has always been changing due to changes in government. You’ll agree with me that the present Lagos state government is very hard with anything concerning lands in the area.
The government consent needs to be sought to build a house now with rest of mind.
Please read report from Lawyer How To Calculate The Price of a C of O and Governor’s Consent In Lagos Yourself