Tenants Lament As Year-end Rush Compounds Rent Hike

Residential house owners in major cities across the country are cashing in on the plight of some Nigerians to get fresh accommodation before the new year to further hike rent that had earlier increased by over 100 per cent in the outgoing year, LEADERSHIP can exclusively reveal.

This is even as tenants are now calling for legislative bills against shylock landlords across the federation.
It was learnt that more Nigerians, especially workers, are seeking fresh accommodation, with the motive of spending their new year in new residences. Investigation revealed that most of those changing accommodation are doing so to move to a bigger apartment, relocate to an environment closer to work, or move from a firm hinterland to cities for a better standard of living, among other reasons.
This annual rite is further compounding the already tense rent atmosphere in the real estate sector where landlords had earlier increased rents by 100 per cent and, in some places, 150 per cent in the last two years.

Lagos, Abuja, Delta, Ogun, and Rivers, among other states, are notorious for sudden rent increases as landlords and their cohorts capitalise on the huge housing deficit in the country. By pricing their apartments out of reach of ordinary Nigerians, they force many residents to move out of town in search of cheaper accommodation.

Checks by LEADERSHIP revealed that the staggering cost of rent is affecting the mental state, finances and economic well-being of tenants as more people seek cheaper homes in slums, rural areas and suburbs.

The rent increases became a general issue in January this year, considering the economic hardship, escalating cost of living, dollar-to-naira inflation, and several countless hurdles bedevilling the economy.
Stakeholders and property managers have also complained that the construction and housing sector was pinned down by macro-economic headwinds forced by the sluggish growth of the Naira, volatility of FX market and the struggling economy.

However, between June last year and now, the situation has become more precarious following the discontinuation of fuel subsidies, the floating of the Naira, and the ensuing high inflation rate, which negatively impacted residential homes, the hospitality sector, and the construction business sector.

Residents are grappling with a significant housing crisis in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital and most populous state. The city, known for its robust economy and high population density, now faces rising cost of living, making it increasingly difficult for many to manage.

In the past two years, house rents have skyrocketed by over 150 per cent across the state, far outpacing stagnant incomes or slight increases in earnings. The crisis affects everyone from families to individual residents, who are compelled to curtail essential spending or seek additional incomes to afford housing. Compounding the issue is a critical shortage of affordable housing, which forces many to settle in less desirable houses or relocate further from work.

To this end, many Nigerians living in rented apartments, especially in major cities, are crying out bitterly for the government to canvass legislative bills at state government levels to ensure that the woes of rent increment do not further compound tenants’ struggles. Citizens and private developers are of the view that implementation of extant rental laws will rescue tenants from shylock property owners who increase rents yearly.

They also buttressed the need for more efforts to legislate extant laws against incessant rent by property owners.

A cross-section of tenants who spoke separately to LEADERSHIP Correspondent said the skyrocketing rent is making life unbearable for them and has forced many people into homeless conditions even as more people live in squalor and makeshift camps.

They argued that federal and state governments should, as a matter of urgency, address the unfortunate situation that has rendered many citizens in hapless condition.

The respondents particularly called for the implementation of extant rent laws by state governments to rescue tenants from those they called shylock landlords and their agents, even as they also stressed the need for governments at all levels to build affordable homes for low-income earners and put a benchmark on rents in order to help the tenants.

In a conversation with Wale Babatunde, a Lagos resident, he described the escalating housing crisis in Lagos as dire. He moved from a two-bedroom apartment at Abulegba to Alagbole-Akute axis in Ogun State.

He said he was stunned to discover that the rent for a comparable two-bedroom apartment in the same area had surged dramatically, jumping from N400,000 to N900,000 to N1.1 million.

“I was completely shocked. I couldn’t believe how the rent had just shot up so much within a period of one year,” he explained.

A resident of Delta State, Mrs. Bridget Orie disclosed that in 2020, she paid N180,000 per annum for a two-bedroom flat in Agbor, Delta State, but lamented that the rent was raised to N360,000 the following year.

In 2024, she moved to another two-bedroom flat within the same area, where she now pays over N500,000 for the same apartment.

An Ogba resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the rent for his two-bedroom apartment increased dramatically in 2022, from N500,000 to N1 million annually.

He decided to continue living in the same apartment, largely because it is close to his workplace at Opebi, a suburb of Ikeja. He expressed concerns that while his salary is adequate, it hasn’t increased significantly in the past four years, putting a significant strain on his budget. His salary increased only by 10% over the period, but his rent rose by 150%.

Highlighting the impact of rent hike, Estate surveyor and valuer with A. A. Babarinde & Co, Adepetu Emmanuel explained that the rising rents in Lagos are primarily due to a significant influx of individuals from other states and rural regions seeking better opportunities.

“The primary reason rents are rising in Lagos is due to the substantial influx of people from other states and rural areas, all searching for better opportunities. This increase in migration significantly boosts the demand for housing, which in turn compels landlords and property owners to hike rents due to heightened competition for available spaces,” Emmanuel explained.

He stressed that the development of road networks into previously hard-to-reach hinterlands is another significant factor contributing to the hike in rents in Lagos.

He specifically cited Ayobo and Ikorodu as areas where the provision of better roads has made the area more habitable.

He explained that this improvement in accessibility has, over the past few years, driven up demand and consequently increased rental prices in these areas.

Specifically, he cited the establishment of the Dangote Refinery and the Lekki Free Zone in Ibeju Lekki as examples of developments that have transformed formerly affordable areas, resulting in significantly skyrocketed rents.

Former REDAN auditor, Southwest and chairman of Roccio Carrillo property, Emmanuel Oyelowo recommended that the government should implement policies aimed at regulating the rental market to prevent exorbitant increases.

He also suggested that the government classify neighbourhoods in Lagos into bands that stipulate respective rental price ranges to curb excessive increases by landlords and property owners.

Additionally, he said, the development of affordable housing projects is urgently needed to alleviate the burden on those with stagnant wages.

He advised the government to improve local content drive in the real estate sector by encouraging indigenous companies to boost local construction materials manufacturing.

He also called on the government to consider subsidizing the cost of construction materials, which could significantly reduce the expenses incurred by landlords and property owners during construction and renovation, costs often passed on to tenants through higher rents.