The crisis in the Nigerian rental market precipitated by upsurge in house rents is now spreading across cities, pushing residents to locations where life is not only difficult but also unsafe.
House rents in the last 12-18 months have jumped by over 100 percent, fuelled by inflation and high interest rates.
In Lagos, many residents living in places like Surulere, Gbagada, Ilupeju, Yaba and others, classified as middle class settlements, are now relocating to suburbs such as Idimu, Ejigbo, Abulegba, Egbeda, Ojodu Berger, among others, on account of rising rents.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the story is not any different as areas such as Kubwa, Lugbe, Gwarimpa, and Lokogoma and many more, where most middle class people reside, have seen significant increase in rents.
“I lived in Lokogoma before, where rent for a two-bedroom flat was between N1 million and N1.2 million per annum. But, like a flash, my landlord increased the rent to N2 million per annum, forcing me to move to Zuba where I pay N700,000 for a two-bedroom flat,” Alloy Asogwa, a civil servant, told our reporter.
Asogwa noted, however, that relocating to the suburb comes at a cost as, according to him, there are high costs of commuting to work daily, which can be up to N10,000.
In the same location, Kubwa, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment has increased from N500,000 to N700,000; a self-contained flat costs between N600,000 and N800,000 to rent; a one-bedroom flat goes for between N1 million and N1.2 million, while a two-bedroom flat rents for between N1.5 million to N2 million per annum.
In Gwarinpa area of the FCT, a civil servant said tenants are being evicted because they can’t afford the kind of rents landlords demand from tenants.
According to the civil servant, what is happening in Abuja is beyond house rents’ problem. “It is a humanitarian crisis waiting to happen in the FCT,” the civil servant said.
In Kaduna, house rents are said to have gone up by 150 percent. For a civil servant state like Kaduna, it is an over-kill as the majority of the residents cannot afford what the landlords are asking for. The residents are therefore appealing to the state government for help.
Residents of the city are blaming landlords for their plight, alleging that the landlords are arbitrarily increasing rents on yearly basis, leaving many families distressed and unable to cope.
A recent survey by a media organisation quoted a tenant as saying that his rent had risen two-fold to N900,000 at Unguwan Rimi, Kaduna.
The residents want the state government to come up with a formal tenancy law that stipulates notice periods, caps on rent increases, mandatory agreements, and a mediation framework to resolve disputes, contending that, without such legal backing, tenants will continue to be vulnerable.
In the South-East part of the country, the story is not any better. Virtually all the state capitals are experiencing high rent increases. Rents in Enugu, Awka, Abakaliki, Aba, Owerri, Onitsha, Umuahia and other places have been on a steady rise.
According to him, city dwellers, especially civil and public workers as well as small business owners, are groaning as many of them can no longer cope, more so with excruciating economic hardship faced by Nigerians.
In Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, rent increase is pushing people, particularly the low-income earners, to the outskirts. House rent has become so high that many civil servants are being forced to relocate their families out of Awka to Amawbia and Awkuzu.
In the city, a three-bedroom flat that used to rent for N250,000 per annum now attracts over N700,000. Residents attribute this to a number of factors, including government’s lack of interest in housing development to meet the growing demand; rising construction costs, inflation and unwholesome activities of estate agents.(BusinessDay)
