Across
the world, close residential places evolved
for the people who prefer a unique and quality environment. The distinctiveness
and better environment are connected with the specific rules and conditions
which every occupant must follow. Like what is operating in countries such as
the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, among others, occupants in Nigerian
Estates are expected to pay service charge monthly or yearly.
Infoprations’
check reveals that service charge, as a mandatory payment in most Estates,
covers the cost of maintenance and repairs of shared facilities such as driveway,
reception areas, corridors, lifts, grass cutting/gardening, Close Circuit
Television (CCTV) equipment among others. The collection of service charge
enables owners of Estates to recover the costs of operating a property from the
occupiers as well as any other persons who benefit from and use the shared
services or facilities provided, according to the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors.
However,
the recent activities show that this payment in most Estates located in Lagos,
Abuja
and Port-Harcourt is being threatened by certain forces. Since 2012, stakeholders at the heart of
service charge determination and payment have been in conflict over the
increase in the fee and the failure of some residents to fulfill their payment
conditions. From the homeowners to the property and facility managers, the fee
needs to be revisited in the face of current economic challenges and ineffective
procurement and management processes.
Available information indicates that the average service charge
pay by the residents of Banana Island Estate is N8, 375,000 yearly. Those
occupying units at 1004 Estate paid N658, 000 in 2015. In the current year,
information reveals service charge payment for the residents of Osborne
Foreshore Estate starts from N500, 000 and above. In the last three years, the
defaulters have been punished. For instance, in 2015, a Church premise was
reportedly shutdown by a property manager when the occupant failed to pay the
required service charge.
Having seen the extent to which property and facility managers are
disconnecting defaulters from the shared services or facilities, occupiers are
now forming associations (a condition not known in most Estates before). Infoprations found that collaboration
among homeowners is on the rise. In Estates located in Lagos, collective
efforts are being made to protect some defaulters by reconnecting the
disconnected shared facilities.
Infoprations sees this as a significant threat to the service charge platform.
These insights have shown that the payment platform and factors for its
determinant need to be revisited. The fundamental principle which says managers
of property and users should set a service charge together need to be embraced.
In the last three years, the occupiers’ views has been that the
procurement and management of the shared services processes are faulty, calling
for efficiency in procurement and transparency towards significant cost
reduction which will ensure payment of low service charge.
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