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Problem And Prospects Of Conversion Of Residential Buildings To Commercial Uses
[A CASE STUDY OF BODE THOMAS STREET IN SURULERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, LAGOS.]
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1.5 LIMITATION OF STUDY
This study is limited to conversion of residential building to commercial uses.
Collecting information regarding transaction in property and land use conversion in the study area is a difficult tack. In few instances where information on property transactions were available, proper recording classification and analysis were not always provided. There was also reluctance by most people to give away needed information on flats and duplexes and this detached house.
1.6 THE STUDY AREA
Surulere Local Government is located in the western part of Lagos State. The area lies on latitude 60 33’ North of the equator and longitude 30 25’ East of the Greenwich Meridian. It is 8km from central Lagos and has an area of about 27sq Kilometers. The area is bounded in the north by Mushin Local Government on the west/south by Ojo Local Government and on the east by the Mainland Local Government.
The inhabitant of the area are multi-ethic, Yoruba, Igbo’s and Hausa. They also have diverse cultures. The area is well manned with modern industrial estates at Ipronri Iganmu and Coker areas.
Surulere Local Government Area was created on the 27th August 1991, from the defunct Mainland Local Government. The 2006 population census results as declared by the National Population Commission, put Surulere Local Government present population figures at five hundred and three thousand, nine hundred and seventy-five (503,975). Agriculture is still given a place among the services provided by the local government a vegetable farm which is the envy of many exists in Tejuosho area very close to the model market. Today, Surulere Local Government stands out as one of the major commercial nerve centres of Lagos State.
The first residential property to be converted to commercial use in the study area cause a lot of problems. The landlord’s association in the neighbourhood took the person that converted the property to court for constituting a nuisance to the neighbourhood and illegal conversion of the plot that was earmarked for residential use. But the landlords association lost the case.
The victory of the case coupled with other factors such as increased rent and facelift/modernization of the building among others are some of the reasons that encouraged others are some of the reasons that encouraged other landlords to allow for change in use of the property. The New Town Development Authority made several abortive efforts to stop this change in use, but were not allow to perform their duty effectively because to vested interest that the big wigs in the society and top military officials of the New Town Development Authority from performing their job effectively.
It is most surprising that while the Town Planning Authority recognized the study area as residential in their master plan and faced with the commercial use conversion problem, the local government was busy collecting the tenement rates on these converted properties which in law can be regarded as acquiescence since the local government is a body of the Nigerian government.
Initially, there was not much change in the use of properties from residential uses to commercial uses but the rampant change in use of residential houses in the study area started in 1986 when the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was introduced. The policy encourage the establishment of new generation banks, finance house and bureau de-change, all of which required to be located close to Central Business District (CBD) and thereby made the exchange in use of properties in the study area inevitable. The location of the banking operation inevitable. The location of the banking operation and bureau – de- change attracted much other complimentary business which made the area more commercial. The zeal to locate in the study area by most business gave room for competition and result in increasing rents and land values mostly during the days of the banking boom Nigerian.
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