Wahab Ajibola’s lips curled right into a wry smile, a fragile dance of feelings etched on his face as he lowered himself into the chair reserved for him on the different finish of the desk, as he misplaced his father.
On a sunny afternoon in Magboro, Ogun State, he wiped his face with a swift movement. For a second, he savoured the coolness of the restaurant. Forty years previous, he exuded politeness, but a palpable haze of bewilderment lingered in his eyes.
“On June 1, 2023, I dialled my landlord’s number with anticipation, prepared to debate the approaching renewal of my lease. Nonetheless, the ringing tone echoed unanswered, leaving me with an unsettling feeling. Undeterred, I sent a text message, hoping to convey the urgency of the matter.
“The next day, I acquired a name that might change the course of my plans. My father, a pillar of energy and love, had handed away. Amid the emotional turmoil, I felt compelled to tell my landlord about the sudden flip of occasions. With trembling fingers, I typed out a message explaining my must journey for my father’s funeral, a surprising journey.
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“His response, although delayed, arrived with condolences and understanding. But, intertwined with the empathy was the revelation {that a} transient assembly awaited me upon my return,” he informed our correspondent.
A single father who lately misplaced his father discovered himself with no wage improvement. Unsure about how this lack of economic progress would affect offering for his sole daughter, who’s presently enrolled in a polytechnic faculty. He had been having conflicts with the owner.
He recalled, “The following week, we had a gathering throughout which he knowledgeable me a couple of hire improvements of an extra N100,000. I objected to this, declaring that I had solely moved in 12 months in the past and emphasised the necessity for a minimal three-month discovery for such a change.
“We couldn’t reach a settlement initially. He proposed that if I decided to vacate by December 2023, I might nonetheless need to pay the previous hire for these six months. I disagreed with this proposal. Ultimately, we settled on a N50,000 increment. I transferred the earlier annual cost of N300,000 to his account and agreed to stabilize him with N50,000.
“Through the assembly, I inquired about the repairs he had promised to hold out earlier than I moved in, and he reassured me he would tackle them. Nonetheless, to this point, these guarantees remained unfulfilled.”
By Ajibola, on November 30, 2023, a heated argument ensued between him and his landlord when he reduced his water supply due to an excellent N50,000.
“I insisted that he should fulfil his guarantees concerning the repairs before I paid the balance. In response, he introduced a give-up notice urging me to sign a replica, which I declined, but I accepted a replica.
“I reached out to his lawyer to intervene and ensure the restoration of my water supply, which was ultimately achieved. I agreed to manoeuvre out of the condo when my present lease expires on June 30, 2024,” he narrated.
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Tenants groan
Ajibola shouldn’t be the one having issues with the numerous hikes within the nation. Many tenants who spoke with our correspondent expressed their grievances about the skyrocketing rents within the nation.
A knowledge analyst who lives across the OPIC space in Isheri, Ogun State, Jumoke Osunbiyi, acknowledged that she was notified of a hire improvement only three weeks before her hire was due.
She mentioned, “Once I was about to manoeuvre in, the owner mentioned he was not utilizing the cash to feed his household, and he usually doesn’t improve hiring. Just for him three weeks ago, say that within the space, the least quantity for the mini-flat I’m residing in was N800,000.
“I’m planning on moving out of his home due to the quick discovery, and the rise was from N650,000 to N800,000, which is sort of excessive. Where am I going to get that form of cash from?”
Equally, an engineer, David Albert, rented the one-room self-contain he was a resident at Ilasa, Isolo, and raised N100,000.
“I used to be paying N200,000 prior to now, but I used to be notified orally that N100,000 had been added to the hire. The humorous part is that I’m nonetheless searching for easy ways to comfortably feed myself, and there’s no improvement in my wage. The financial system is so discouraging,” he lamented.
“My landlord provides N100,000 yearly to our rents. In February 2023, I paid N450,000; in December, I was informed that I might be paying N550,000,” an entrepreneur, Adesola Okanlawon, disclosed.
The Ogba resident mentioned he couldn’t deal with the annual hire improvement due to his wage.
He mentioned, “I reside in Ogba, Okera, and I can’t deal with the annual improvement as a wage earner; my employer shouldn’t be raising my wage yearly. The rationale for improving the hire is to frustrate the prevailing tenants into leaving the property for brand-spanking new tenants to return in, to allow them to gather increased hire from the new tenants, including settlement and company charge.
“Given this notification of a hire improvement, I intend to relocate to an extra steady residence, the place I gained, so that I won’t be burdened with escalating rents yearly. It will enable me to plan extra successfully for myself and my future household.”
Additionally, an accountant, Funmilola Sobowale, mentioned his landlord served him an eviction discovery.
“I acquired the condo in September 2022. I paid N500,000 for a 2-bedroom condo; I assumed the hire would stay unchanged until 2024. Nonetheless, the owner got here with tales that he needed to use the apartment. That’s the usual excuse these landlords provide you with.
“I used to be orally informed to manoeuvre out three months earlier than the expiration of my hire. I used to be shocked due to a tenant paying yearly hire; by regulation, I’m entitled to a six-month eviction discovery. After I approached him, he disclosed he was planning to extend the hire to N600,000. I had no alternative due to it being near my office and the stress of paying for company and settlement charges again, which may gulp over N200,000 or extra, aside from the hire.”
In the meantime, a landlord, Seyi Amusan, mentioned that the sudden improvement in rents, particularly in Lagos, had been largely influenced by the nation’s financial state.
He mentioned, “Landlords, who invested in their properties to get annual returns to maintain their livelihood, all of a sudden woke as much as the impolite shock that the worth of their leases had dropped by about 50 per cent.
“The rise in the prices of constructing supplies and development has additionally been a significant factor in the rise in the worth of the property and hire. This has led to the necessity for them to extend rents throughout the board by about 100 per cent.”
Amusan claimed that the rise in home rents has made issues challenging for tenants, mainly staff, whose salaries stay identical.
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The architect mentioned, “Rising rental costs in Nigeria, pushed by financial components like excessive inflation and forex depreciation, are prompting tenants to hunt extra inexpensive housing choices. This has led to a migration of residents from costly areas to cheaper ones, with some even relocating from the Island to the Mainland. Some landlords are capitalising on the housing demand, exploiting tenants, and worsening the affordability disaster.”
Unreasonable hire improve
In a unique interview, Prince Nwafuru, the Managing Companion of The Regulation Suite, mentioned that the connection between landlords and tenants in Nigeria is usually contractual.
He mentioned, “The tenancy settlement sometimes supplies the idea and extent of hire increment besides the place the connection shouldn’t be documented. It’s simpler for present tenants to problem unreasonable and arbitrary hire will increase, the place the connection is documented within the tenancy settlement. The primary measure is for tenants to insist on written agreements and have their attorneys evaluation them earlier than signing.
“The upper bargaining energy of the owner and the tendency to abuse such energy in the midst of negotiating the phrases of the tenancy settlement is commonly checked by correct authorized recommendation on the a part of the tenant. The tenancy legal guidelines relevant in states in Nigeria equally present some yardstick to measure the reasonableness of hire improve albeit topic to the settlement of the events. As an example, the Tenancy Regulation of Lagos 2011 offers present tenants the precise to problem unreasonable hire will increase topic to the availability of the tenancy settlement.
“In figuring out whether or not a rise is unreasonable, the court docket is to think about a number of components, which embody the overall stage of rents within the locality or comparable locality for comparative evaluation; proof of the events; any particular circumstances referring to the premises in query or some other related matter. Curiously, this provision of the regulation is topic to the settlement between landlord and tenant. “
Nwafuru famous that whereas landlords have a proper to extend hire below the tenancy legal guidelines, such proper shouldn’t be exercised arbitrarily however have to be topic to the settlement of the events and the components thought of earlier.
In the meantime, the Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ikeja Department, Femi Adedotun, mentioned the Lagos State Tenancy Regulation had given a variety of latitude to tenants.
Nonetheless, he emphasised that landlords maintained possession of their property and, if not satisfied in any other case, retained the flexibility to evict tenants by exploiting loopholes within the regulation.
He mentioned, “Although the value is a direct product of demand and provide, the owner has been magnanimous to state his intention of an increment of 100 per cent. The tenant can negotiate and rely on previous goodwill, in case it’s non-existent.
“The tenant can search redress by way of the court docket vide the above-stated regulation. If the tenant wins, he pays regardless of the court docket agrees, which will not be as much as 100 per cent as famous by the owner. Nonetheless, the owner who might need felt sad as a result of judgment can serve him a give up discover, which is able to eject him inside six months, making the tenant pay the previous worth for a interval not lower than one 12 months. “
In accordance with him, with the loophole in thoughts, the owner can challenge the give up discover six months earlier than the tip of the subsequent due hire date, including that this fashion he would lose only a few weeks in hire if he can benefit from the loophole of the regulation.
Hire management
Traditionally, components like land shortage, excessive demand, and costly development supplies have led to hovering rental costs in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos State. This has prompted discussions about implementing hire management to handle the problem.
Hire management entails the federal government setting a regular hire restrict to make housing extra accessible and shield tenants from extreme will increase.
Many cities worldwide, akin to New York Metropolis, San Francisco, Berlin, and Stockholm, have adopted comparable measures to handle housing affordability.
In Lagos, rental prices have surged by no less than 100 per cent between 2023 and 2024, in accordance with knowledge from Propertypro.
This underscores the urgent want for hire management to mitigate the burden on tenants and guarantee equity within the housing market. By setting most hire ranges and offering avenues for tenants to problem unjustified will increase, hire management can assist stabilise costs and promote housing fairness.
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