Groups Push for Law to Regulate House Agents, Property Dealers to Curb Security Threats in Kano
Know Your Neighbor Community Development Initiative, in collaboration with sister organizations, convene a roundtable discussion to support a motion before the Kano State legislature aimed at strengthening community security through the regulation of real estate and house agents across the state.
Speaking at the meeting, Comrade Muhammad Sani Garba said Kano witnessed rising security concerns connected to the ease with which individuals rent, buy, or occupy houses without proper identification or traceable records.
He noted that the lack of regulation in property transactions has created loopholes that enable criminal elements to hide within communities.
He explained that the stakeholders’ discussion will build support for compulsory measures, including mandatory registration of all house agents with a recognized regulatory authority before carrying out transactions, and ensuring that no property is bought, sold, or rented without passing through a licensed agent.
According to him, if passed into law, the framework could address between 75 and 85 percent of security challenges related to criminal hideouts in rented apartments, anonymous movement of suspicious persons, weak accountability in housing occupancy, and difficulty in tracing offenders, while reinforcing the know-your-neighbor principle.
In her remarks, Ambassador Maryam Hassan, head of LASPADA, warned that houses are increasingly being rented without proper identification, with some used for storing illegal drugs, thereby making substances easily accessible to young people and worsening social problems.
Also speaking, Isah Jibrin Isah, Kaci Kasa head of the association of house sellers and renters in Kano Kafada, described the collaboration as timely, noting that many unidentified individuals currently buy and rent houses.
He said the proposed regulation will help sanitize and properly structure the property transaction business in the state.
The proposed motion, to be presented to the Honourable Speaker and members of the Kano State House of Assembly, focuses on establishing a legal framework that will guide property transactions and the activities of house agents as part of efforts to close security gaps linked to anonymous housing occupancy.
Pulse Time Nigeria reported that the meeting held in NUJ secretariat Kano which brought together stakeholders, journalists,lawmakers, security agencies, community leaders, legal practitioners, real estate agents , civil society organizations among others.