SECURING TITLE DOCUMENTS
The Authority does not issue Certificates of Occupancy
as that is reserved for Ministers and Governors under the Land Use Act. But as an agency of the Federal Government, it has legal power to issue Leases and Sub-Leases after receipt of C of Os and Exchange of Letters from the source of her land.
A Customer seeking title documents should:
-
- Pay all charges stipulated and due for his allocation.
- Make enquiries and soon after F.H.A. has secured her root of title, apply for title papers.
- Pay the bill for issue of the title document.
- Be prepared to present himself with a witness for verification of originals of his allocation and payment receipts before endorsing his signature on the title paper.
- Follow up progress on endorsement by the Chief Executive, stamping and registration.
- Personally sign for and collect the title paper since it is not generally posted.
CREATING SUBSIDIARY INTERESTS (CONSENT)
A Customer holding an allocation of a plot or a house may desire to divest himself of his interest in totality by sale or assignment, or in part, by sub-lease, sub-under lease, mortgage or transfer of possession. In that event, the Customer is required to seek the Consent of the Authority to that transfer to the third party by:
- Submitting an application for consent to transfer to named third party, attaching a copy (not photocopy) of setting out the terms and conditions of the transfer. The rights, privileges and reversion of the Authority must be clearly safe guarded in the transfer document. The instrument must also be sealed by a registered Legal Practitioner.
- Ensure that all outstanding charges, fees and Obligations due to the Authority on the allocation Have been fully discharged.
- Follow up to ensure that any defects in the deed of transfer are duly amended.
- Pay the consent and other designated fees.
- Pick up the Consent letter personally or through an attorney dully authorized in writing.
UNDERTAKINGS
Prior to issue of a deed of lease by the Authority, a Customer may seek credit facilities from a banking institution, for which reason, the bank may require a letter from the Authority undertaking to deliver to the bank the title documents for the Customer’s property when they are ready.
In that event, the Customer is required to instruct the Authority to issue the undertaking in respect of the subject property to a named bank with an address and properly sign the instruction. A fee is payable therefore. Please note that instructions from the Bank or other third party cannot be acted upon because the party is considered a stranger to the contract over the property with the Customer.
CERTIFIED TRUE COPY
A Customer who has lost original documents issued to him by the Authority may apply for issue of a Certified true copy. He is required:
- To depose to an affidavit of loss of the document.
- To obtain a Police report on the loss.
- To submit a formal application for a Certified True Copy upon payment of the requisite fees.
GUIDELINES FOR TAKING POSSESSION
(CHECKING-IN)
A Customer with an allocation of a house or plot who has paid all stipulated charges may request to take possession or be checked in after the house is completed and survey of the plot is established.
For a house, he should:
- Request to be shown the house to determine whether it is completed.
- If completed, formally apply under his signature to the Executive Director (ES) to be checked in, attaching the following:
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- Photocopy of final letter of allocation/reallocation.
- Photocopy of receipts to cover all due payments.
- Two recent personal Passport Photographs.
- The Head of Estate Section then verifies and confirms allocation/reallocation, payments and the authenticity of the Customer before endorsing request to the schedule Estate Officer in-charge of the estate in question.
- Customer then presents himself to the Estate Schedule Officer with originals of papers in (b) above for scrutiny. At this point, all requirements for full personal documentation not earlier submitted, are required of the Customer.
- Customer then completes a checking-in form in duplicate and signs.
- The schedule Estate Officer endorses the checking-in form and hands over the keys of the house. Later, he submits the checking-in form for counter signature of the Head of Estate Section.
- Original checking-in form duly endorsed by all the parties, is then released to Customer and the duplicate placed in the property file of the Customer.
If property is a plot of land, the Customer:
- Pays all allocation charges.
- Obtains letter of confirmation of ownership and payment from the Estate Dept., to the Land Survey Dept.
- Approaches the Survey Dept., collects and signs for the Survey Plan.
- Is handed over the site by the Land surveyors who confirm back to the Estate that Survey Plan and site have been handed over to the Customer on a stated date.
- The confirmation and checking-in form is then filed in the property file.
GUIDELINES FOR SEEKING DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL AND PROCESSES THEREAFTER
1.No building development shall commence without a plan approved by the Authority. Any unapproved development shall be liable to demolition by the Authority after a notice has been duly displayed on such unauthorized development for a month (30 days) or for a period which the Authority may deem fit.
2.For the purpose of this regulation, the expression building development shall include the following:
i)any development on a vacant land.
ii)any construction work involving the demolition, alteration, extension, renewal of any existing building whether any such construction pertains to walls or of the roof.
iii)the conversion of dwelling house to non-dwelling use or vice versa or use to another as the Authority may determine.
iv)the conversion into more than one dwelling unit of a building that was originally constriucted as one dwelling unit.
v)any change of use without prior approval from the Authority.
ARCHITECTURAL PLAN
1.In seeking approval for building plan, an applicant shall submit not less than 4(four) No. sets of architectural drawing signed by an Architect with name inscribed and registered to practice in Nigeria.
2.SCALE
Location Plan
i)Site Plan – All site plan shall be presented in 1:100 – 1:200 depending on the scope (Residential, Commercial, Institutional etc.)
ii)Section/Elevation – All elevation and sections shall be in 1:50 – 1:100 depending on the scope.
iii)Details – All details shall be in 1:10 – 1:25 irrespective of scope.
iv)Any scale used must be duly indicated on all sheets.
3.DESIGN STANDARD
i)Well analyzed Site plan with proper orientation and consideration for open spaces, circulation and parking.
ii)Proper and adequate natural cross ventilation and natural lighting must be considered in all Architectural spaces provided.
iii)All Architectural spaces provided must have proper and adequate provision for headroom including spaces provided under the staircase landings.
iv)All Architectural spaces provided in any building must meet the minimum size architectural spaces standard for the particular use.
v)All sheets are to be sealed and signed by a Registered Architect.
vi)All copies of drawing shall have one ARCON stamp affixed and duly signed by the Job Architect on the first page of the copy.
STRUCTURAL PLAN
1.The prospective developer shall submit the structural plan for the proposed development following these guide lines:
i)The drawing shall be stamped and signed by a COREN registered professional Civil/Structural Engineer.
ii)A copy of Structural calculation sheets which should have COREN seal duly affixed by the Job Engineer.
SITE KNOWLEGDE
Good knowledge of the overview of the site with a view to ascertaining:
i)Peculiar soil condition and circumstances within the property location.
ii)Movement of ground water and surface within and around the site.
iii)Topography of the site and nature of geological formations within the site.
iv)Influence of adjoining property on the formation of the proposed structure.
FOUNDATIONS
The background knowledge of the site determines:
i)Foundation type adopted in the design.
ii)Size of footing and foundation element.
iii)Reinforcements provision and arrangements.
FRAMEWORKS.
For building structures of two floors and above, fully framed arranged of columns and beams must be adopted and the checklist includes;
i)Frame arrangement and size
ii)Deflection considerations for large span beams/cantilever beams and lateral deflection of columns.
iii)Reinforcements provisions and arrangements.
SLAB
i)Thickness of slab.
ii)Deflection consideration for large panels and cantilever panels.
iii)Headroom over the stairways.
iv)Reinforcement provisions and arrangements with particular attention to cantilever reinforcements and top mat reinforcements over beams.
STAIRCASE
i)Thickness of the staircase waist.
ii)Support arrangements and boundary condition.
iii)Deflection.
ROOF
i)Support arrangement for the roof.
ii)Special elements and services provided at the roof.
iii)Water tank slab provided at the roof.
iv)Structural adequacy of the beams/cols and slabs.
GENERAL
Notes should be in the drawing stating minimum cover to the various elements like beams, columns and slabs etc.
i)Concrete grade for various aspects of works.
ii)Soil condition and bearing capacity of the soil used for the design.
iii)The detailing should have layout and section of the various elements i.e Foundation; Columns/beams;slabs;staircase;roof etc.
iv)Lintel schedule.
MECHANICAL PLAN
The prospective developer shall submit the Mechanical plan of the proposed building to include the following:
i)Site layout design
ii)Fresh water service layout design.
iii)Drainage services layout (soil waste water and storm water).
iv)The legend used in the designs.
v)Isometric projection (for buildings more than two floors).
vi)COREN stamp duly signed by the Job Engineer.
vii)COREN SEAL (for buildings more than two floors).
viii)Schedule of the septic tank and soak away pits. In water log area, cress pool is recommended.
ix)Details should be shown as to how the selection of the Air conditioning units were arrived at for building with Air conditioning designs.
x)For residential buildings, more than two floors, fire fighting equipments should be included in the design. However, it is a must for any commercial building to incorporate the firefighting equipment design.
ELECTRICAL PLAN
The prospective developer shall submit electrical design including the following:
i)Electrical site layout plan.
ii)Electrical legend (symbols and description)
iii)Floor plans (lighting)
iv)Floor plans (power)
v)Comprehensive load balance analysis for Distribution Circuit.
vi)Schematic line circuit diagrams from Nigeria Electric Power Authority supply.
vii)COREN stamp duly signed by the job Engineer.
viii)COREN seal for building more than one floor.
ix)Any commercial center, hotels, office complex, hospitals etc must make provisions for private 11kv Sub-station.
All submissions must also have the name of the applicant and address of property clearly indicated in the drawing panels.
All submissions shall be in A3 size and spiral bond.
Duration for consideration of application
An application for planning permission shall be considered within 30 working days of receipt by the Authority.
When an applicant submits a building plan in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Authority and where no reason has been communicated to the applicant for not approving same within 30 working days of receipt of the application by the Authority, the application shall be deemed to have been approved provided;
i)The applicant is cleared in writing of all outstanding fees/charges to the Authority.
ii)The applicant is cleared of all irregularities associated with plot allocation and survey.
iii)Conformity with the building regulations.
The Authority in its consideration of a plan for building permission deem it fit to:
a)Grant Permission fully or with condition
b)Refuse permission
c)Postpone consideration for such an application.
Applicant is entitled to appeal against refusal of applicant or to resubmit application.
In a case where the application for development is refused approval, or where approval is granted with conditions or the consideration thereof is postponed, an aggrieved applicant;
i)May appeal to the Authority within 30 working days from the date the applicantion for permission has been so considered by the Authority or
ii)Resubmit an application.
iii)Every objection or appeal to the Authority shall be considered within 60 working days from the day on which it was lodged with the Authority.
Officer of the Authority may be authorized to enter plot(s) in the Estate.
The Authority may at any time cause the whole or any part of a plot or plots within its Estates to be entered into and examined or surveyed by authorized officer(s) of the Authority.
i)Such Officers shall make such inspection, survey, examination and investigation and or such other work that the Authority shall consider necessary to be performed.
ii)Willful obstruction or interference of or to entry by duly authorized officer(s) of the Authority shall lead to forcible entry by the Authority.
Planning Fees
The Authority shall from time to time review fees payable when an application is being submitted for planning permission. Such fees, which are hereafter called ‘Planning fees’ shall vary as between different classes of development and shall be payable in a manner specified by the Authority.
RATES CHARGEABLE AS PER DEVELOPMENT (Download Doc)
PLANNING AND DESIGN STANDARD FOR OTHER STATES.
The Authority shall prescribe and may amend at it’s discretion planning and design standard for all part of its estate.
SITE COVERAGE AND SET BACKS
For the categories of plots specified below, the maximum site coverage and minimum set backs shall be as obtained in the table below:
| Catogory of Development/Land use |
Plot Area in square meters |
Maximum Plot Coverage |
Classification of Communities |
Minimum Set-Backs Front Rear Left & Right |
|
------------------ |
30….35% |
Low Density |
6 3 3 6 3 3 |
Cleaning and |
Below 500 1000-2000 <1000
Below 100
Below 100
Below 100 |
30% 30% 30% 30%
30%
30% |
Not “ -- --
--
-- |
6 3 3 12 6 6 10 6 6
10 6 6 10 6 6
|
|
-- |
30% |
-- |
10 6 6 |
- Except for commercial or Industrial development, set-back shall in like manner be defined to refer to the space that lies between the building wall and the limit of the plot in any particular direction; and building refers to the roof area of the building line.
- For Religious/Educational or other non residential development of more than 2 floors, the minimum set-back shall be as prescribed by the Authority from time to time.
- Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) signed by the relevant professional should accompany development seeking approval for factory, market, commercial or office building in excess of 5,000 square meters of lettable space.
- All applications for Petrol filling/Service Stations, Private Hospitals, Hotels etc shall be accompanied with license or evidence of clearance from the regulating Authority.
- All building within the petrol filling station other than the canopy should not be more than five (5) percent of the plot size.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMMUNITIES
For the purpose of determining set-backs and plot coverage as in previous paragraph above the communities in Festac Town Estate shall be classified as follows;
Community IIID Medium Density Zone
Community IIIC Medium Density Zone
Community IIIA Low Density Zone
Community IIC High Density Zone.
STRUCTURE NOT ALLOWED IN AIRSPACE CREATED BY SET-BACKS
I)No building development whatsoever shall be allowed in the airspace created by the set-backs. Where house are being built on one floor only the distance between the building should not be less than twice the height of these buildings.
ii)Every building plan shall conform with the type of house whether bungalow, terraced, detached, semi-detached or otherwise/ or the particular area on which it is to be zoned.
BEACONS
Beacons shall in no case be buried or otherwise covered from view in the process of construction. The removal or damage of beacons shall attract a penalty of Twenty-five Thousand Naira (N25,000.00)
MINIMUM AREAS OF LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN SPECIFIED
For every residential building the minimum size of habitable rooms shall be 10.8sqm. There shall be a dining space which shall not be less than 9sqm in area.
ii)A normal out-house shall have a plot coverage of not more than 50% of the main building.
PROVISION FOR PARKING AND OTHERS
i)Every residential building that has three or more living rooms shall have built in garage which shall not be less than 18sqm (this is restricted to Festac town and Ipaja).
ii)All spaces shall conform to architectural space standards for different uses, Houses where courtyards are provided shall not be less than 9sqm.
iii)Within the Commercial/Industrial development area no outside storage shall be permotted. On street parking is strictly prohibited.
iv)Every hotel shall have provision for one car parking for every 2 living rooms.
v)Every commercial or industrial development shall have a minimum of two-car parking space for every 90 square meters of floor area with the exception of restaurant and cinema houses which shall have one parking space for every 50 square meters of floor area.
vi)An applicant wishing to submit detailed plans of proposed development, should illustrate the site plans and analysis, elevation and sections fully annotated with dimensions. The following conditions must also be met:
a)The height of the rear and flank walls must not exceed 1.5 meters for bungalow and 1.8 meters for other developments which have more than one floor.
b)The fencing of the frontage wall should consist of solid block work to a maximum of 1.0m high and 0.8 if metal grille or perforated blocks or any material that achieve ventilation.
c)In the case of corner piece plots, the boundary walls abutting on the two roads should be composite construction, i.e 1.0m of solid block wall and the remaining 0.8m to be either perforated block wall or metal grill.
d)For all developments in Gwarimpa Estate, the roofing code should reflect the long span aluminum and colour of roofs of the prototype units in the area. Developers should seek clarification on specific roof colour for their structure from the Authority.
e)An applicant may obtain from the Authority prototype fence plans for which a prescribes fee shall be payable to the Authority.
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH AN APPROVAL FOR A BUILDING PLAN MAY BE WITHDRAWN
Any building approval may be withdrawn if the Authority considers that the approval has been given under the following conditions;
i)Due to error of judgment on the part of the Authority.
ii)If decision was based on wrongful information submitted by the prospective developer in the first instance.
iii)If the circumstances under which the approval was given alter (i.e. applicant developing without the approval plan).
iv) If there are over-ridding factors such as those of infrastructures or public interest which necessitate the withdrawal of such approval.
COMPENSATION MAY NOT BE PAYABLE
No compensation shall be payable for any approval that is withdrawn where the approval was in the first instance based on wrongful information having been submitted to the Authority.
CONDITIONS FOR COMPENSATION
i)Where an approval which was first given is being withdrawn due to no fault of the developer, a compensation may be payable to such developer to the extent of the loss incurred from the date of approval up to the time the notice of withdrawal of approval is served on the developer.
ii)The developer shall have lodges a claim with the Authority within 90 days from the date of which the approval granted him was withdrawn. Such compensation shall be determined at the instance by the Authority mutually agreed to by the developer. In the course of disagreement settlement shall be by an Arbitrator according to laws of arbitration clearly stated.
CONTRAVENTION NOTICE AGAINST UNAUTHORISED DEVELOPMENT
i)In the event of a contravention, the Authority shall serve a stop of development notice on a developer and the developer shall stop such development within 24 hours.
ii)The Authority shall serve a Contravention Notice on a developer warning him from the date of letter that a particular development is not approved at all or not approved in part in the manner in which it is being carried out and require a correction to be made within 7 days.
DEMOLITION NOTICE WHERE CONTRAVENTION NOTICE IS NOT COMPLIED WITH
Where the requirement of a Contravention notice is not met the Authority shall serve a Demolition notice to warn that the Structures in question shall be liable to demolition to the extent that an unauthorized development is not corrected within such time as shall be specified in the demolition Notice. The cost of such demolition shall be borne by the contravener.
COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION
Approval of these plans in no way confers right on the developer to enter upon the site without first notifying the Authority of his intention to commence development. The developer shall indicate in writing when he wants to commence development. Such applications will be addressed to Head of Town Planning for proper setting out by the relevant officers.
SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION OF DEVELOPMENT BY THE AUTHORITY
A prospective developer shall in the first instance invite the appropriate officers of the Authority to carry out the setting out of the development and shall be free to inspect the construction work at any stage of the building process in order to enforce if necessary, conformity with the approved plan. One of the conditions attached shall be supervised by the Town Planning Section, Arch section, Civil Engineering Section and the Electrical/Mechanical Section of FHA at various stages of the development.
It is the responsibility of the developer to inform in writing the appropriate Section/Units of the next stage of development and to ensure that all the stages of development as listed hereunder are supervised and certified in writing by an authorized officer of any of the above named Department of the Authority. The developer shall keep a site diary for all necessary approvals by the authorized officers.
STAGES OF DEVELOPEMNT SECTIONS
A.Setting out
(Pegging & Roping) Town Planning
B. Substructure up to DPC
i)Excavation Arch, T/P
ii)Form works and reinforcement Engineering Services
iii)Foundation concrete ditto
iv)Ground floor concrete ditto
C.Frame
i)Blocks Arch/Engineering
ii)Lintel Works Engineering Services
iii)First floor structuring/staircase
iv)Casting in 1st floor slab
D.Block work and Roof Finishings
i)Concrete works up to roofing level Arch/Engineering
ii)Ceiling, fixing of doors and windows ditto
E.Finishing Arch/Engineering
Violation of this simple rule will carry a penalty of not less than Fifty thousand Naira (N50,000.00) and where such development stage have been done wrongly, appropriate actions will be taken to ameliorate the wrong done at the developers cost.
GUIDELINES FOR OBTAINING SURVEY PLANS, PRESERVATION AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF BEACONS.
Obtaining Survey Plans.
- The Customer should pay allocation charges including Premium, disposal price, survey fees, capital development charges indicated in Letter of Offer.
- Obtain letter of confirmation of ownership and payment From the Estate Dept., to the Land Survey Department.
- Approach the relevant survey officer with letter of Confirmation of ownership plus payment from the Estate Dept.
- Collect and sign for the Survey Plan from the Survey Department.
- Be handed over the site by Land Surveyors who would Confirm back to the schedule Estate Officer that Survey Plan and Site have been handed over to the Customer on a stated dated.
PRESERVATION AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF SURVEY BEACONS:
The customer should:-
- Leave all the beacons abutting his/her property in their Exact positions/location. Beacons should not be displaced or concealed in course of construction. Destruction or movement of Survey Beacons is a punishable offence.
- Report cases of missing beacons to the Authority.
- Make the prescribed payments to the Authority with respect to the missing beacons if he had earlier taken possession.
- Obtain letter of confirmation of payment for the re-establishment of missing beacons from the Estate Dept., to the land Survey Dept.
- Secure an appointment for the date of beacon re-establishment.
- Endorse the pillar re-establishment form to confirm that he/she witnessed the actual re-establishment.
CUSTOMER AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS
In the Federal Housing Authority, the Customer is king. He is the target and beneficiary of all the products and services rendered by the Authority.
The Authority encourages customers in every estate to form and belong to the Residents Association for that estate. The objective of the association(s) is
To facilitate Communication between the Authority and the residents of the estate on all matters affecting the estate.
To foster a partnership between the Authority and the Customers in the maintenance of a healthy, clean and secure environment.
To harness Community effort and resources for the maintenance of estate facilities.
To constitute a pressure group for attracting needed improvements and facilities to the estate.
To inter-mediate between and encourage residents to live in peace and harmony among themselves.
Apart from the objectives outlined above, it is important to note that there is a growing acknowledgement of the vital role of Civil Society and Communities in human settlements development and management. Government and its agencies have not fared too well in the past, and the involvement of the people in making their cities and communities safer, healthier and more equitable, often results in more efficient and effective application of resources. Government and its agencies are now expected to be more involved in guiding and facilitating action.
Members of a block of flats or houses are encouraged to form a Block Association. Those along a close or Road may form a Close or road Association. Those within a defined Community or Neighbourhood may form a Community or Neighbourhood Association. While a block association encompasses every member of the block, a close or road association may comprise all or representatives of the members, depending on their number and what they provide in their constitution. Usually, because of the size of the Community or neighbourhood, its association is drawn from representatives of closes and Roads. The Residents Association is central and also representative.
All these associations are guided and supervised by Federal Housing Authority through the Estate Services Department.
The Authority will also establish for each estate, an Estate Maintenance Advisory Committee made up of Representatives of the Authority, the Residents Association and Corporate bodies rendering services in the estate. The Committee's roles shall include:
-
- To identify maintenance needs of the Estate.
- To monitor the performance of utility bodies providing services and seek improvements.
- To facilitate the take over of services by public utilities, agencies etc from Federal Housing Authority.
- To organize enlightenment Campaigns for educating residents on use and maintenance of facilities provided in the estate.
- To make proposals for improvement on services.
- To organise sanitation competitions and propose awards.
- To submit periodic reports of the Committee’s work through the Executive Director (Estate Services) to the Management of the Authority.
Every Customer is, therefore, encouraged to belong to the Residents Association so as to be fully integrated into the affairs of the Estate and to avoid running foul of expectations.
