Easy Guide to Building a Low-Cost House in Nigeria

With the fast rising cost of owning a house in Nigeria, you are probably on the lookout for an alternative low-cost house that helps you become a homeowner without drilling a gaping hole in your pocket.

Architects have maintained that a growing population of people are opting for building their own homes as opposed to buying a property. This explains why you would rather go for the option of building a low-cost house as opposed to buying one that has already been built.

Building a low-cost house in Nigeria requires an extra careful planning. There are certain elements that you must factor into your building plans if you intend to build a house successfully.This easy guide we have put together will help you build a perfect house with a manageable budget.

The budget is arguably the most important factor you put into consideration when you are building a low-cost house. The idea here is to save as much money as possible so you have to decide precisely how much you plan to spend on the house. Coming up with the budget is one part of the equation. Sticking to the budget is another.

If you do not come up with a budget, then you might be doomed to fail. Regardless of the amount of money you have saved up, you need to consider your following:

1. The House

What kind of house are you trying to build? A bungalow or a 5-bedroom duplex? You need this to determine what building materials you will buy as well as the quantity.

2. Research

Find out precisely what you need to build the house. Are you going to need 50 trucks of granite or 30? How many bags of cement are you going to need to complete the house?

3. Additional Fees

The fact that the price of a plot of land has been set at N8 million doesn’t mean that’s all you’re going to pay. There are always additional charges here in Nigeria. Additional fees that come with building a house in Nigeria include:

A). Survey Plan: This rests largely on the location of the land and is usually between N150,000 and N300,000.

B). Legal Fee: This is usually 5% of what the land costs

C). Agency Fee: This is also 5% of what the land costs

D). Cost of Signing Documents: The officials in Lagos State in charge of this have a strange tradition of making you pay to get your documents. In other states in Nigeria, this is not applicable.

E). Cost of Securing Your Documents: Before you perfect your documents like your C of O at the land registry, you’ll be required to pay a fee.

Location

Location means everything when you are building a low-cost house. The cost of building a 4-bedroom duplex in Lagos is not the same as building the same structure in Oyo State or Ogun State. Lagos will definitely cost you more considering the cost of the following – Cost of acquiring land, cost of building materials, cost of labour and cost of furniture.

Lagos is a commercial hub and buiding a house is not cheap but there are neighborhoods that are more cost friendly than others. For instance, if you are building on a budget, neighborhoods like Ikoyi, Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikeja might not be the wisest places to build a house in. However, the likes of Ikorodu, Agege, Abule Egba, Akute and Ipaja are more cost friendly.

Credit: Private Property