Okoko-Badagry Axis Can Become ‘Lekki’ of Lagos Mainland

The Okokomaiko – Badagry axis has the potential to become the ‘Lekki’ of Lagos mainland on completion of the ongoing expansion and rehabilitation of the Okokomaiko – Badagry expressway and the expected take-off of the Blue Line Lagos Rail Transport (LRT) mass transit transport system along the corridor by the end of this year.
This is contained in a report by Residential Auctions Company (RAC) tagged, “Spotlight on Lagos Housing Development – 2016 Outlook”.
The report stated: “Notwithstanding the fact that Lagos Island has the bulk of new units under going development, we cannot neglect or overlook that some locations on Lagos Mainland such as; Ayobo-Ipaja, Badagry and Okokomaiko also have vast number of units in the development, a major consequence of a few mass housing schemes launched under Joint-Venture (JV) arrangements and are still awaiting completion. “With the on-going rehabilitation and expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway and the construction of the Blue Line Lagos Rail Transport (LRT) mass transit transport system by the Lagos State Government, the Okokomaiko – Badagry axis part of Lagos Mainland has the potential to emerge as the next “Lekki” of Lagos Mainland in the future with regards to the delivery of new housing units in Lagos provided infrastructures continues to improve along this axis. This will have a directive positive impact on commercial activities in the location and will act as a catalyst to lure more residents from other locations on Lagos Mainland to migrate.
The Blue Line is a 27 km urban rail line that will run from Okokomaiko to Marina. There will also be a Red Line which will run from Marina to Ikeja International Airport.” Also the RAC report noted that available data revealed that the vast majority of new housing units being delivered are concentrated in Lagos Island. “This has been the trend in the last few years. Ironically, Lagos Mainland is larger than Lagos Island in terms of square area but due to the fact that the financial centre of Lagos is in Lagos Island which is also home to two Commercial Business Districts (CBDs), traditional Lagos Island CBD and the New Emerging Victoria Island CBD, the population of residents has swelled in this part of the market and especially with the opening of the Lekki-Epe axis in the early 80’s there has been a massive influx of people that previously resided in Lagos Mainland to Lagos Island particularly for employment and business motives which has since attracted the interest of developers. “In 2015, an estimated 3,929 new units were delivered into Lagos; of which 3,203 units (82 percent) of these were located in Lagos Island and of these 2,579 units (66 percent) were located along the Lekki-Epe axis making this location to have the largest proportion of new housing units in Lagos. This is followed by Ikoyi with 10 percent and Victoria Island with 6 percent. On Lagos Mainland, Festac had the highest number of new units delivered with 4 percent due to a high rise development by UPDC boosting supply in this location. This was followed by Yaba and Ikeja GRA with 3 percent and 2 percent respectively.” The report further revealed that the supply of new housing units in Lagos has seen a sustained yearly increase in the past five years due to fierce and intense competition amongst developers as demand for housing units continues to grow.
It added that the growth in demand was particularly from the middle-income households’ class seeking adequate homes to buy and buoyed by the fact that they have also become wearisome of paying exorbitant annual rates in the highly expensive Lagos rental market.
Credit:Vanguard
“The increase in supply can also be attributed to favourable conditions that developers have enjoyed such as the stable price of cement which is a locally produced commodity and its pricing is not susceptible to forex fluctuations,” the report stated.