Anthony, a researcher in the United Kingdom, accused Middlechase Property Limited of refusing to refund his money after the real estate firm failed to release the property he paid for.

The researcher, who wishes to reveal only his first name, told FIJ he paid N16.5 million in installments between March 31 and September 14, 2022, for a one-bedroom apartment within Fairfield Apartments in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, for his mother but could not gift her until her passing in February 2023.

He said Middlechase Property assured him at the point of payment that the apartment would be completed by December 2022. The apartment is still far from completion in August 2023.

Anthony also accused Middlechase of similarly obtaining money from other individuals and failing to release the property they paid for while making excuses.

“It seems like the company is unwilling to give people their houses. From the outside, the houses seem to be almost ready, but this is not the situation,” Anthony told FIJ.

The researcher said he was deceived into believing Middlechase Property Ltd was credible because he found three buildings owned by the firm when he was researching the company.

He also told FIJ that the real estate firm told him the building that caught his fancy was no longer available after he made a first deposit of N5 million.

“They showed me a flat via a video which they told me was available. Immediately after I made an initial payment of N5 million, Middlechase Property told me the flat was gone and there would be a new development which would start in a month,” he said.

“They showed me the pictures of the new site. According to what they claimed their engineer said, the building would be ready before December. But up till now, nothing has happened and this is a new year.

“I asked them to refund my money because the foundation of the building they showed me last year is still as it was. People have been complaining. They are just collecting money and they don’t have any intention of letting anyone live in the property.”

In March, FIJ reached out to the company to know why they had not refunded Anthony since he requested a refund. The company said that it would do so and the payment would be made in six tranches which were to start on June 30 and end in December 2023.

In an email sent to Anthony on March 16, Middlechase’s customer service said that the refund policy of the company was such that the refund was subject to a 30 percent deduction of the sum paid.

“However, due to the peculiarity of this transaction refund will commence from 4 months after the initial request is made. Hence, the complete payment of N11,550,000 will be repaid in 6 monthly installments,” the email reads in part.

Although Anthony disagreed with the 30 percent deduction because he fully paid for the flat, he expected a refund. It never came.

“At the end of June, I did not receive my refund. In July and August, the same thing happened. I am tired of the runaround, I need my money back,” he said.

When FIJ contacted Middlechase for comments on the matter, the respondent said Anthony’s stance on a refund or whether he was open to another option of settlement was not exactly clear although Anthony denied this.

This reporter also asked why the building Anthony paid for was not ready almost a year after payment but the respondent said Anthony agreed he would get the keys to his flat in December. Anthony said this claim was wide off the mark.

The Middlechase respondent also said that Anthony’s wife visited their office in Lagos to ask for other plans instead of a refund but Anthony said this was untrue because she only went for an inspection.

Persistent disruptions, conflicts, and endless court orders leading to project delays are among the reasons many developers favor purchasing land from government schemes rather than from family-owned lands or speculators, commonly known as ‘omo-onile’.

In a discussion with the media about his collaboration with the Lagos State government for the construction of housing estates, Jide Durojaiye, Managing Director of Legrande Property Development Company Limited, expressed his unfavorable experiences with ‘omo-onile’, driving his preference towards the government’s land allocation scheme.

His advice becomes handy to would-be investors or developers of real estate on the need to carry out the necessary information about land before parting with money.

Narrating his harrowing experiences with Omo-onile, Durojaye, who is the developer of 400 hectares Alexandra Court,  Costal City, Ibeju Lekki, said his first project, which was Mende Villa, was a bad experience as he had to buy the land thrice from different groups of omo-onile.

According to him, after paying  about N300 million for the land and was about to commence construction work, somebody came with court injunction to stop the project.

“We met with the genuine people, but you can’t know all their families. So we met with them and we paid them. After paying, getting to the site after paying about N300 million, somebody just came with a court injunction and said they were the owner of the land.

“We looked through their documents, it was true they bought through the same people almost about 30 years ago and there was no way we could know easily,” he said.

Based on his discovery as of that time, he said once a land or property is sold to the second person, it is difficult to know since such transaction wasn’t registered anywhere,

He said: “We discovered that once a property is sold to the second person, it is difficult to know. That’s why the Lagos State government is working on its digital land registry to correct this.

“At the time we borrowed money to the time we agreed on term of settlement and just for the judge to say go ahead, it is successful, another person came forward and we have to pay him again.”

Due to this delay, Durojaiye said he was in court for 28 months, adding that the loan facility secured from bank was doubled.

“These are the reasons we don’t want land from omo-onile. We like dealing with the government.

“The other two that followed, we had to do a lot of due diligence. The project we were supposed to start in March did not start until  December. That made people to lose confidence in the project. This is the reason we prefer dealing with government,” the Legrande boss said.

Speaking on the new project, the Alexandra Court, Costal City in Ibeju Lekki, (The new Lagos), the managing director said it was in partnership with the Lagos State  government to provide  quality and affordable dwelling units with top-grade infrastructural facilities in a comfortable, safe and conducive environment for the middle-income Nigerians.

The estate, which is a mixed development,  is equiped with over 5,000 quality housing units of two and three bedroom flats, including semi-detached and fully-detached duplexes.

In order to enhance access to the housing units, Durojaiye urged would-be subscribers to take advantage of the company’s  ‘Rent to Own’ initiative.

The ‘rent to own’ scheme, he said, would help to unlock potentials, add values, enhance urban renewal efforts and solve various challenges, thereby providing affordable housing for Lagosians.

He also called on government at all levels and Nigerians to key into the ‘rent to own’ scheme to address the accommodation problems and housing deficits in the country, saying the project, when completed with various basic amenities in place, would meet the needs and bridge infrastructural gap in the state.

Durojaiye also said the state government, with the Federal Mortgage Bank, had been partnering with private investors in the real estate sector, especially on the New Lagos city to utilise available resources, provide employment opportunities, increase Gross Domestic Product and create values in the lives of families in various communities.

He said the ‘rent to own’ initiative, which started in 2021, had been able to enhance the master plan, increase investments, provide affordable housing for high and middle class earners and create wealth, as he commended the state government for its efforts at digitalising the land acquisition procedures.

Tribitat Real Estate, a top real estate company in Lagos allocated fully finished units of THE AMBIANCE 1 located at Abraham Adesanya, Lekki, Lagos on the 5th of April, 2023. 48 units were allocated at the handover ceremony which had property owners, realtors, estate developers and well-wishers in attendance.

While speaking at the event, Dr Tony Kolawale, Managing Director of Tribitat Real Estate, said that The Ambiance Phase 1 stood as number one in terms of quality and infrastructure. He also said, “When we got here, this area was not developed. And that’s one thing about real estate, where some underdevelopment, we see the potential for luxury and legacy.

We encountered many challenges with the high cost of building materials and other factors especially with the foreign exchange because we imported most of our materials from abroad. But we were able to surmount those difficulties and Ambiance Phase 1 has come to life. We have many amazing projects coming up at the moment, we are still in the construction phase of The Ambiance Phase 2, a top-notch development and we are making sure we implement the lessons learned from the challenges we faced in Ambiance Phase 1.”

According to Gbenga Adeleke, Chief Operations Officer of Tribitat Real Estate, “Most of our clients can attest to the fact that we did not compromise on any of our building materials. Despite the challenges, we were able to deliver to all our clients as we promised.

We promised that we would deliver quality and top-notch products to them and we are doing that today. This project is a testimony of how off-plan property works and this is the easiest and one of the best ways to own a property. We appreciate our clients who started this journey with us and believed in us even when this area was not developed. Some paid an initial deposit of 3 million and now own a home worth 65 to 100 million.”

Also speaking on the property allocation, Emmanuel Abikoye, Director, Strategic & Business Development said, “When you combine the total plots we have in Iconic and Ambiance Foreshore properties and the numbers of units of houses that we’ve built, it is obvious that Tribitat real estate is contributing massively to solving the housing deficit we have in Nigeria. We started selling the three-bedroom apartments at NGN35 million, now it’s selling at double the price. Other premium units have also experienced a price increase and this goes to show that we are not only solving the housing deficit, but we are also providing value that contributes to the appreciation of your investment. We started this project two years ago and today we are handing over fully finished apartments to our clients. The feedback we have gotten today shows our clients and realtors are very happy and satisfied with the quality of work we have put in here.”

One of the homeowners at the event, Engineer & Mrs Toyin Ogunsanya expressed their satisfaction at the quality of the development. “We are glad and happy that we are getting the keys today. Thank you to Tribitat for a job well done.” Another client Tosin Akintokun also expressed gratitude to the company for delivering as promised, “Thank you so much Tribitat for your patience and understanding and for being professional at all times. You understand what we want especially the needs of those of us that are not based in Lagos and you delivered exquisitely. My home ticks all the boxes and much more. I am so happy.

Tribitat real estate limited offers premium commercial and residential real estate development services in Nigeria. The company provides investment opportunities that are accessible, secure and highly profitable for everyone. With Estates in strategic locations, Tribitat ranks among the top real estate development companies in Nigeria.