Size Matters: How to know what plot size you are buying

Understanding plot sizes in Nigeria

Marketing language seems to be causing, especially the novice buyers, some difficulties in knowing what plot sizes they are buying. And when I tag marketing as a culprit it is because, in many marketing and listing materials, the offers are listed as “A plot of land for sale” and this is irrelevant of what size of land they are offering.

What this tends to do is give some people the idea that a plot is that size they are offering and/or buying so when they are discussing a purchase in other areas they are enabled to compare against each other.

Technically, stating ‘a plot of land for sale’ when the size is not the most common size allocation in that area; is not the best way of making such an offer. This is so in my opinion because a plot is expected to have a standard measure and so even though plot sizes aren’t standard across the country, we should at least be able to give a fair appreciation of what is to be expected when buyers see/hear about a plot of land for sale.

For example, a plot as relates to real estate is defined as a small piece of ground marked out for a purpose such as a building. And because there is actually no standard plot size in Nigeria, below are the various different land sizes that can be referred to as a plot of land:

• 60ft x 120ft (About 668.9sqm): This is a measurement common in Lagos state and Ogun states.
• 50ft x 100ft (About 464.5sqm): This is the standard of measurement in Edo, Oyo and Rivers states, among others. Also you are most likely to see this measurement than any other in Abuja.
• 100ft x 100ft (About 929sqm): This particular plot size is commonly found in commercial zones, or areas where land is still very cheap.
• 500sqm: 500 square meters is a rare but predominantly growing plot size and you mostly find it within residential estates or expensive high-brow areas.
• 600sqm: This is a common plot size in well planned estates, especially in Lagos and Ogun states.

But in some cases, there have been instances where marketers try to define the plots by sizing like half or quarter plots. This has been found to be a growing happenstance and as a buyer, you are better off asking for the size of the plot rather than assuming when being made an offer.

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As land gets even scarcer and prices climb up, many buyers find it more affordable to go for smaller land sizes such as quarter, half, and/or custom-sized plots within their budgets. And this has become a way for the developers to quickly sell out their plots especially within designated estates because the sizes on sale are not cast in stone.

If you are an investor who is interested in land banking, then chances are that you will be looking to invest in virgin lands that are not particularly defined by plot size but by the mass land measures – which are mostly more defined. These larger size measures would also apply to investors looking to purchase land for commercial, production, and/or retail use to include farming, industrial setup, and shopping mall development.

1.ACRE: Unlike a plot of land, an acre of land has a fixed size anywhere in the world. An acre of land is 4,046.9sqm or 43,560sqft. An acre of land contains 6 plots if the plot size is 60 x 120. For a plot size of 50 x 100, an acre would contain 8 and a half plots.

2. HECTARE: Just like the acre, the size of a hectare is fixed. A hectare contains about 2.5 acres and roughly 15 plots of 60 x 120 land. A hectare is 100m x 100m = 10,000sqm.

As you might have noticed, Square meters(sqm) have been the predominantly used measure and this is a metric measure of the land size with relation to the area covered. A square meter measure is arrived at by multiplying the linear measurements of length and breadth.

For example, where a plot of land being marketed for sale is defined by the overall plot size of either 300/500/600sqm until you are allocated and given the exact dimensions (also known as the layout of the plot) you will be unable to assertively design whatever you want to build and any seasoned practitioner would advise that you wait till you get that before going ahead to make building assumptions or conclude on building plans.

…to be continued

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