By Mike Ebonugwo, Features Editor
LAGOS — Across many towns and cities in Nigeria, a quiet but alarming housing crisis is taking hold
— one that is forcing families to relocate, downgrade their living conditions, or sink into debt.
It is not triggered by conflict or disaster, but by a relentless and mostly arbitrary rise in house rents, worsened by the excesses of some landlords and estate agents. For many residents, the question is no longer where to live, but whether they can afford to live at all.
This rapidly unfolding accommodation crisis is already a sad reality in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano and, indeed, most state capitals across the country.
Unfortunately, this is happening at a time Nigeria’s housing crisis has assumed alarming proportions, with experts warning that the country must build about 550,000 housing units annually for the next 10 years to bridge a deficit now estimated at 14.9 million units.
The figure underscores the scale of a crisis regarded as one of the worst globally, as millions of Nigerians remain without access to decent and affordable shelter. Recent data from the World Bank and the Bank of Industry suggest that actual funding required to close this gap could exceed N59 trillion, a staggering sum that highlights the disconnect between current budgetary provisions and the reality on ground.
Confronted by food inflation that is now hitting the roof, and transportation costs that have continued to rise due to sharp increases in the prices of petroleum products, the condition of most city dwellers has taken a sharp turn that could inexorably end in a climax of disaster.
Indeed many residents are currently being haunted by the traumatising nightmares of being rendered homeless because they cannot pay accommodation rents that have suddenly been priced beyond their reach.
Lagos: How arbitrary rent hikes are rendering many homeless
In the bustling city of Lagos, the dream of urban living is increasingly turning into a nightmare for millions. Nigeria’s commercial hub has become an arena where rent spikes relentlessly, landlords and estate agents thrive on arbitrary fees, and ordinary citizens struggle to keep a roof over their heads.
Narrating his experience, a frustrated tenant said: “By the time the notice arrived, it was not even written on paper. It came as a casual WhatsApp message from the agent, sent on a Tuesday morning, and read thus: ‘Your rent is now N 1.8 million. If you can’t pay, vacate before month end’.”
For four years, Adaobi had lived in a two-bedroom flat in Egbeda with her husband and two children. The rent had been N750,000 when they moved in. It was later increased to N950,000. Now, without renovation, without negotiation, and without formal notice, it had nearly doubled.
“I read it three times,” she said, sitting on a plastic chair in the compound she may soon leave. “I thought maybe it was a mistake. How do you jump from N950,000 to N1.8 million just like that?”
To make matters worse, most landlords have devised various exploitative means to rip off their tenants. According to Jude Iwu, who said he was speaking from experience, a growing practice in Lagos is for lawyers and caretakers to insist on a one-year fixed-term tenancy. “It is a strategic move to bypass lengthy eviction processes required for periodic tenancies.
He further explained that it had become an avenue to charge a full agreement fee every year of renewal which is legally questionable. What this entails is that every tenancy renewal is treated as a brand-new contract requiring a fresh 10 per cent legal fee.
Some tenants attempt to get around this development by requesting a renewal option that ensures the contract has a clause stating that the tenant has the right of first refusal to renew at the end of the agreement, provided all obligations had been met.
This underlines the sad story of Madam Maureen Okafor, a tenant in the Ajao Estate part of Lagos.
Priced out of home: A Lagos tenant’s story of survival in an oppressive rental market
In 2022, the promise of a modest, stable life in Ajao Estate, Lagos, felt within reach. With N1.4 million, I secured an apartment, nothing extravagant, just a place to call home in a city that never slows down. But beneath the surface of that quiet neighbourhood, a different reality was unfolding, one that would soon turn comfort into constant uncertainty.
It didn’t take long to notice a troubling pattern. Tenants were being asked to leave with alarming frequency. Notices to quit came like uninvited guests — sudden, disruptive and often unexplained. Within just three years of living there, I watched five neighbours pack and leave. Each departure carried the same silent message: no one was truly settled. Then, it became personal.
My rent was increased. No negotiation, no consideration — just a sharp hike that felt disconnected from reality. When I raised concerns, hoping for dialogue or even a measure of empathy, I was handed my own notice to quit. In that moment, it became clear: in this system, tenants are expendable.
What makes the situation even more terrible is the condition of the property itself. The building, now over 50 years old, has not been transformed in any meaningful way to justify the staggering increase. Yet today, that same apartment now goes for N4.5 million, more than threefold jump in just three years.
Forced into the market again, I encountered an even harsher truth. The housing sector, once thought to be merely competitive, revealed layers of exploitation. Agents, driven by commissions, were actively pushing landlords to inflate rents. And they do so with unsettling enthusiasm, often indifferent to the strain on ordinary Nigerians trying to secure shelter.
In some cases, the burden became almost absurd. Landlords began demanding two years’ rent upfront. Imagine a three-bedroom apartment listed at N4 million per year, with a requirement to pay N8 million at once — on top of a 10 per cent agency fee and agreement charges. For many, this isn’t just difficult; it’s impossible.
The consequences are already taking shape. A quiet exodus is underway, as tenants, including young professionals, families, and small business owners, are being priced out of the city. The very people who keep Lagos alive are being pushed further away from it.
If this trend continues unchecked, a strange irony may define the future: landlords sitting alone in their expensive, empty buildings, while the workforce migrates inward, searching for affordability over proximity.
This is not just a housing issue. It is a human story — of displacement, of resilience, and of a growing divide between those who own and those who simply need a place to live.
For Ekene Nwonye, a 29-year-old graphic designer living in Yaba, rent now determines everything else in life. “I don’t plan anymore,” he said. “My salary is N220,000. My rent is N900,000. Do the maths. I eat late. I save nothing.”
He recently moved into a shared apartment with three other adults, a temporary solution that feels permanent. “We are all educated people,” he said quietly. “But we live like students because rent won’t let us breathe.”
In Ajegunle, a retired civil servant, 67-year-old Mr. Samuel Okere, is preparing to leave Lagos entirely. His landlord increased rent from N400,000 to N900,000. “I cannot fight,” he said softly. “My pension cannot fight.”
Agents as gatekeepers of fear
At the centre of the crisis are estate agents, many of whom operate with little regulation. Tenants accuse them of inflating rents, creating artificial competition, and turning desperation into profit.
“Agents now tell you, ‘If you don’t take it, five people are waiting,’” said Bose, a single mother in Ikorodu. “Sometimes they are lying. But fear makes you agree.”
Several tenants interviewed described a pattern: agents encourage landlords to raise rents sharply, citing inflation, exchange rates, or “market value,” then add multiple fees — agreement, caution, commission — sometimes totalling 20 to 30 per cent of annual rent.
An agent in Surulere, who spoke anonymously, admitted the pressure. “Everybody wants to cash out,” he said. “Landlords complain of costs, agents want commission, and tenants are stuck in the middle.”
Landlords’ justifications, tenants’ reality
Landlords argue that rising building material costs, taxes, and maintenance justify higher rents. Cement prices, for example, have climbed significantly in recent years, and some landlords say they are simply adjusting to economic realities, even for houses built over 50 years ago.
But tenants counter that many of the hikes are unconnected to improvements or repairs. “They didn’t fix the leaking roof,” said Bose. “They didn’t change anything. But they changed the rent.”
In some cases, tenants who attempt to negotiate are met with ultimatums rather than dialogue. The message is clear: pay or pack.
The law that exists only on paper
Lagos has tenancy laws designed to protect tenants, including provisions on notice periods and arbitrary increases. In practice, enforcement is weak, and many tenants are unaware of their rights.
“Going to court is expensive and slow,” said a Lagos-based legal practitioner. “Most tenants choose peace over justice because they still need somewhere to sleep.”
As a result, landlords and agents operate without restraint, knowing tenants lack the time, money, or confidence to challenge them.
Tenant can sue landlord for exorbitant rent
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing and Head of the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority, LASRERA, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, a lawyer, reacting to soaring rent in the city, stated: “The Lagos State government is putting all efforts in place to look into the exorbitant rent being charged in the state.
“However, the government, through the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2015, states that unreasonable increase of rent can only be decided by the law court once the applicant makes an application to the court.
“Prospective tenants are advised to do due diligence and also apply to court for any unreasonable increase in rent. In summary, any high increase in rents can only be decided by the law court, as provided in the law. Also, the law is being reviewed to favour all parties.”
Also reacting, the Estate, Rent, Commission, and Agents Association of Nigeria, ERCAAN, said the astronomical increase in rental accommodations across Lagos could be attributed to rapid urbanisation — new residents arrive daily in Lagos, while there is not much increase in the built sector.
The National President of ERCAAN, Godwin Alenkhe, who reacted on behalf of his association, said: “The escalating cost of building materials has adversely affected the sector. The inflation and fluctuations of the naira against major currencies can also be part of the rising cost of rental accommodations.
“But it is worth noting that estate agents and realtors also share in this blame, as some of them are charging excessive fees because the industry is not properly regulated. As for us (ERCAAN), we have set the template for regulations because our constitution clearly states that no member of the association should collect more than 10 per cent as agency fees, which is the approved professional fee by all real estate regulatory bodies and associations.
‘’Any of our members who collects more than the stipulated fees shall be penalised by our disciplinary committee.”
Akure: Low-income earners cry out as rent crisis bites hard
In the quiet outskirts of Ijoka in Akure, what should have been the comfort of a modest two-bedroom apartment has turned into a daily struggle for survival for Musa Dauda, a broadcast engineer with Glo 99.1FM.
Like many other residents across Ondo State, Dauda now finds himself trapped in a deepening housing crisis, marked by arbitrary rent hikes, rigid landlords and unregulated estate agents. His ordeal began when his landlord, Mr. Olaoluwa Daramola, increased the annual rent on his apartment from N165,000 to N265,000, a staggering jump that has thrown his household into uncertainty.
Recounting his experience, Dauda said the situation had been nothing short of distressing: “I pleaded with my landlord to give me some time to look for another accommodation, but he insisted that I must vacate immediately if I cannot meet the new rent,” he lamented.
With a monthly salary of N80,000 and the responsibility of catering for his wife, two children, and two additional dependants, Dauda described the increment as “cruel and insensitive to prevailing economic realities.”
Unable to reach a compromise, he has now sought legal redress. “My lawyer has written to him, requesting six months to enable me secure another place. That is the only humane thing to do,” he added.
Dauda’s experience is far from isolated. Across Akure and other parts of the state, residents, especially low income earners, are groaning under what many describe as an alarming and unchecked surge in house rents.
Mrs. Ibidakun Helen, a private school teacher earning N50,000 monthly, expressed deep frustration over what she termed “arbitrary and unjustified” increases in rent. “The situation is getting out of hand. Every year, landlords increase rent without any improvement in the property. How are low-income earners expected to cope?” she queried.
For Mrs. Grace Kudehinbu, a fishmonger, the crisis has effectively shut the door on any hope of better living conditions. Currently living in a cramped one-room apartment with her husband and three children, she said the dream of moving into a more comfortable home remains out of reach.
“I wish to leave this place for something better, but where will I get ¦ 400,000 for a two-bedroom flat? We have no choice but to endure,” she said helplessly.
Vanguard findings indicate that the housing crisis is spreading rapidly across major towns in Ondo State, including Akure, Ondo, Owo, Ore, Ikare-Akoko, Akungba-Akoko, and Okitipupa.
In highbrow areas like Alagbaka in Akure, the total package for a two-bedroom flat now ranges between N800,000 and N2 million annually. In other parts of the state capital, similar apartments go for between N300,000 and N500,000 — figures that remain far beyond the reach of average earners.
Outrage, lamentation over soaring rents in Ibadan
With house rents soaring out of reach in Ibadan and other urban centres in Oyo State, many residents are at a loss how to respond, with eviction and homelessness staring them in the face. From Apata to Akobo, Eleyele to Sango, Challenge to Dugbe, and Agbowo to Ojoo, tenants recount a familiar pattern: sudden rent hikes without adequate notice, inflated agency charges, and a web of fees that sometimes surpass the rent itself.
What used to be modest accommodation is now priced far beyond the reach of average earners. In several instances, annual rents that stood at N250,000 have skyrocketed to over N1 million within a few years — often without any corresponding improvement in facilities. The spike is widely attributed to speculation, unchecked market forces, and the activities of intermediaries.
More troubling is the conduct of some estate agents. Prospective tenants are frequently confronted with multiple inspection fees, exorbitant agency and agreement charges, “caution fees” with no clear legal basis, and artificial inflation of property values. Together, these practices have turned the simple act of securing accommodation into a financial and emotional burden.
Rising house rent across Ogun: Causes and concerns
An estate agent, Mr. Olakunle Adelakun, attributed the rising cost of housing in Ogun State to the increasing price of building materials, which has significantly affected construction costs and, by extension, rental values.
However, many residents argue that beyond market forces, the lack of regulation in agent fees and landlord practices is a major contributor to the crisis. They are calling on the Ogun State Government to regulate and standardise agency charges, enforce clear legal limits on fees, protect tenants from exploitation and illegal billing, and establish accessible channels for reporting abuses without fear of victimisation.
A tenant, Mr. Olu Adefuyi, urged authorities to address arbitrary rent increases by some landlords and agents. He stressed the need for proper oversight to prevent sudden and unreasonable hikes.
“Housing is a basic need, and people deserve fair treatment,” he said. “Agents should consider the current economic realities. Reducing fees and acting transparently will make housing more affordable and reduce suffering. Making life easier for others ultimately benefits the entire community.”
Residents groan over rising rent in Port Harcourt
Residents of Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, are groaning over the unprecedented hike in rent across the state, blaming landlords and agents who have “connived” to rip off tenants of their hard-earned resources.
Since the beginning of the present administration, the rate of house rent for all categories of apartments has gone sky-high, forcing residents — with no option left — to appeal to the state government, and in particular the State House of Assembly, to make urgent laws that will checkmate the excesses of landlords in the state.
Prior to the present administration, a two-bedroom flat with three toilets on the outskirts of the Abuloma area of the state capital went for N550,000. Today, that same accommodation has skyrocketed by 500 per cent to N1 million annually, without negotiation.
Mr. Amos Kingston, a construction engineer, said he has been living in that part of the city for close to 20 years. “At no point in time have I ever experienced this high cost of things, particularly rent. When I newly came to Port Harcourt close to 20 years ago, rent was cheap. But since this administration came in, things have become very expensive.”
Giving his own experience, a human rights activist, Prince Wiro, confirmed that the high cost of house rent and arbitrary increases by some landlords in the densely populated area of Diobu have affected many families who struggle to survive on a daily basis.
Wiro said: “Many families who cannot cope have relocated to villages and the outskirts of Port Harcourt city. For instance, one room in Mile 3 Diobu, which was N8,000 per month for one year (N96,000), is now N15,000 per month for one year (N180,000).
“Then self-contain, which was between N250,000 and N300,000 per year, is now between N500,000 and N600,000. A one-bedroom flat, which was N400,000 per year, is now N800,000 to N900,000, while a two-bedroom flat, which was N800,000 per year, is now N1.2 million per year.
“So many families cannot cope, especially low-income earners and civil servants. Most of the persons meeting up with the payments are big businessmen and women, as well as alleged internet fraudsters.”
When contacted, Ben Uzoka, an agent at the TMC estate, Abuloma, said neither the landlord nor the agent should be blamed for the unfortunate hike in house rent across the board. He corroborated the position of Prince Wiro that the costs of cement and other building materials have gone up astronomically. “Nobody should be blamed for this but the government of the day. Everything in this country is expensive. They are even out of the reach of average Nigerians. Some of these building materials like rods, nails and cement can be produced massively by the government. Ajaokuta Steel Mill readily comes to the rescue in the area of iron and nails.
“We can massively produce cement just to crash the price of the product. By so doing, rent will automatically come down. Moreover, I think that with good legislation, government, both at the federal and state levels, can help the masses in that direction. Where I live, I also pay rent. So, I am equally affected,” he said.
South-East city dwellers lament soaring house rent, say it is choking
House rent in major cities in the South-East zone — Enugu, Awka, Abakaliki, Aba, Owerri, Onitsha, Umuahia, and others — has been on an astronomical rise. Residents, particularly civil and public workers, are crying out over the matter, saying many of them can no longer cope with the choking rent, especially in the face of the excruciating economic hardship faced by Nigerians. Even landlords of houses built many years ago are involved in the rent hike craze, ironically also citing the high cost of building materials — for a house built over 15 or 20 years ago!
For instance, the rise in rent is indeed pushing people, particularly low-income earners, out of urban centres in Anambra State.
A civil servant, Augustine Okeke, with a family of five, had to pack out of his three-bedroom flat in the heart of Awka city to Nibo, an outskirt of the capital city. Okeke said: “When I moved into the last place I lived, the annual rent was N150,000. Two years later, the landlord increased it to N750,000. I had to adjust to cope by withdrawing my children from the mission school they were attending to a public school. That increase also affected our standard of living, as every luxury — even though they were necessities of life — had to go.
“As I was trying to adjust our way of life generally, the landlord, at the beginning of this year, again gave us a letter that the rent had increased to N700,000, citing high cost of maintenance. With that increase, it became clear to me that my days in the city were numbered. The house we moved into at Nibo is also a three-bedroom flat, with an annual rent of N300,000, but it is in a rural setting. The light there is not as regular as it is in Awka, and it costs me about N2,500 to go to work every day.” Okeke said he initially thought of moving to his village but confessed that he and his family could not cope with village life.
Residents attribute the high cost of rent in Anambra to, among other things, the influx of Yahoo Boys in the city who are ready to pay any amount. “These boys induce landlords with money such that many of them prefer to rent their houses to them, and now that the business has crashed, most of them no longer meet their rental obligations.”
A landlord, Osita Maduka, said no amount of rent would match the cost of building materials and routine maintenance. He said that when he completed his house at Amansea, Awka, he fixed the rent at N900,000, but for months, nobody was willing to pay, even when he reduced the asking rent to N700,000. Yet some of the flats are still unoccupied.
Maduka called on the government to intervene in the housing sector by building low-cost houses for people and evolving a means of reducing the cost of building materials.
The situation is not very different in Onitsha, though most residents blame elderly landlords and children who inherited properties from their parents for the sharp rise in rent.
For Chief Albert Nwaozuzu, an Onitsha businessman and landlord in one of the popular residential areas in Onitsha, rent increase has always been one of the major concerns in the South-East, not only in Anambra. He blamed it on agents and some lawyers who see it as the only way of survival because they cannot find their level in litigation.
“As a new-generation landlord, I consider a lot of things before I fix the rent. I don’t behave like old-generation landlords and their children who inherited houses to punish people in the name of collecting house rent. Go and do your investigations; you will discover that the people involved in the incessant increase in rent are not the young people building houses. The people doing that are old-generation landlords or their children who inherited their late parents’ property, who are not even carrying out any renovation in such houses, but every year they are increasing house rent and giving quit notices to tenants who disagree with such increases. They use idle lawyers to achieve their selfish aim. I use that word ‘selfish’ because they do not fulfil the reason they give for the increment, which is renovation.”
In Owerri, Imo State, a former Dean at the Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Dr. Tony Ekwe, noted that “the rising cost of rent has seriously compounded the inflationary trends in Igbo land.” His words: “Although the five state governments in Igbo land have agencies or establishments they call Housing Corporations, it is no longer clear what their staff do to justify their monthly pay. Construction of housing estates is now left in the hands of private developers, and the shylocks amongst them are maximally exploiting the opportunity to the fullest, albeit to the detriment of the poor masses.
Yahoo Boys behind outrageous house rent in Umuahia — Residents
Like their counterpart in Awka, Anambra State, residents in Umuahia, Abia State, have reason to blame the influx of internet fraudsters known as ‘Yahoo Boys’ for the outrageous house rent in their state capital.
Checks showed that a two-bedroom flat in Umuahia goes for between N400,000 and N600,000 per annum, depending on the location, while a three-bedroom flat ranges between N700,000 and N1 million.
Confirming this, a house agent who identified herself as Blessing said a two-bedroom flat in a new building in a good location costs up to N700,000; a three-bedroom flat in a new building at a good site goes for between N700,000 and N1 million. Some three-bedroom flats with modern facilities at good locations cost up to N1.2 million per annum, she added.
Blaming ‘Yahoo Boys’ for the development, she said: “These Yahoo Boys fleeing from Anambra and Enugu states are the cause. Landlords in Umuahia prefer giving out their houses to them because they pay ‘sharp-sharp’. Yahoo Boys don’t negotiate rent. As the landlord is mentioning the amount, they are paying immediately. This is why houses are scarce now in Umuahia.
“You will hardly get a flat for N250,000 again in Umuahia, including old buildings. The worst is that some landlords insist on collecting rent for two years from new tenants, besides agent fees, but some still consider one-year payment,” she added.
A resident of Umuahia, Chinonso Eze, a fashion designer, also decried the high cost of rent in the state capital, saying it is not justifiable as Umuahia is not a commercial city. He said he pays N500,000 for his “small size” two-bedroom apartment, adding that the initial place he got, a refurbished old building, was pegged at N620,000 per annum.
Enugu enacts law to checkmate outrageous house rent
Enugu residents are also decrying what they describe as outrageous rise in rent. A three-bedroom flat in medium-class areas such as Trans-Ekulu, Emene, or Awkunanaw in Enugu metropolis goes for N700,000 and above. In areas like Ogui Layout, near higher institutions of learning, landlords are exploiting students more. This extortionist rent is exclusive of agents, lawyers and other sundry fees such as caution fees. Sometimes agents charge as high as N200,000 to N300,000, while lawyers sometimes charge even higher amounts as legal fees.
Worried by the unaffordable rent in Enugu State, a human rights lawyer, Alex Amujiogu, approached the Enugu State High Court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Enugu State House of Assembly to regulate payment of rents in the state. He contended that there had been laws in the state regulating house rents which have been disregarded by landlords and their agents, leading to chaos in rent payments. Following this, the Enugu State House of Assembly in February 2025 initiated a bill to regulate arbitrary rent and other charges.
Entitled “Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Bill, 2025,” it was sponsored by Okey Mbah, representing Nkanu East State Constituency. Its aim is “to curb excessive fees by middlemen, eliminate unjustified charges, and establish more precise tenancy regulations in the state.” Key provisions of the bill include mandatory certification for agents, a maximum charge of 10 per cent of the rent as agency fees, and the abolition of caution fees from tenants.
The Speaker of the House, Uche Ugwu, told Vanguard that the bill has passed reading stages, a public hearing has been conducted, and it has been committed to a committee for finishing touches before being sent to the Governor for assent.
He said: “The bill is now at the committee level. A public hearing has been conducted, and the committee is working on the submissions of different stakeholders and interest groups. The major aims of the bill are to stabilise rents and, most importantly, agency fees because some agents charge higher fees than the landlords. It will also determine when to increase house rents and at what rate, depending on the location of the house, because there are factors for determination.”
Ebonyi residents groan under indiscriminate hike in rent; Assembly intervenes
Residents of Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, are also lamenting indiscriminate increases in house rent by those they call “greedy landlords”. Checks reveal that an old three-bedroom apartment goes for between N750,000 and N850,000, while a newly built three-bedroom apartment goes for between N1 million and N1.3 million annually.
However, the Ebonyi State House of Assembly has expressed concern over the matter. An executive bill aimed at regulating the activities of landlords and housing agents is now before the Assembly. In fact, it is presently at the committee level.
Abuja: Shortage of accommodation driving frequent rent hike
Half a century after it was decreed into existence in 1976 by the Murtala/Obasanjo military government, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, remains an epicentre of the battle for accommodation.
According to the original master plan, the city was designed to accommodate a little over 3.1 million people. The first phase was to accommodate 350,000. Due to rapid urbanisation and population growth, the population of Abuja (including suburbs) exceeded 2,000,000 by 2000, significantly exceeding the original long-term projections made during its initial development.
However, current estimates of the city’s population indicate that over four million people reside within Abuja Municipality and the five surrounding area councils. The current reality (2026) is that Abuja’s rental market is experiencing a severe crisis. Rents for residential accommodation have jumped by 40–60 per cent across various neighbourhoods. The rents vary; the closer to the city centre, the more expensive.
This situation has left residents at the mercy of landlords and estate agents, who are taking advantage of the housing shortage to impose arbitrary rent hikes and excessive fees on tenants. Following the removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the naira against major currencies, rent increases have become abrupt, steep, and widespread across all six area councils.
In many neighbourhoods – from central districts like Garki, Utako and Wuse to the outskirts including Karu, Orozo, Kuje, Lugbe, Kubwa and Old Nyanya – residents are united in opening the book of lamentation: rents are on the increase, often without prior notice from landlords.
This situation has forced many families to relocate to environments more in tune with their financial realities than areas they would normally consider to live and raise their families.
Such forced relocations from the city centre to the suburbs have pushed the cost of rents beyond the reach of many, especially those who once lived in high-brow areas like Maitama and Asokoro.
A staff member of one of Nigeria’s leading banks, who pleaded anonymity for personal reasons, told Vanguard: “I was transferred from my bank’s headquarters in Lagos and initially shared a two-bedroom apartment with a colleague in Maitama. We were forced to leave when the bank felt the N10 million rent was no longer reasonable. We had to seek alternatives. I was able to find accommodation in F01, where I cough out N3.5 million for a two-bedroom duplex.”
On account of such relocations, suburbs are experiencing rising rents as they absorb the overflow of displaced tenants, with attendant effects on transportation and sundry expenses for low- and middle-income earners.
It has become a norm for some married couples to leave their families behind in other cities in order to share accommodation with colleagues to conserve funds.
David Emmanuel, a salesman for one of Nigeria’s leading beverage manufacturing companies, who resides in Kubwa, one of Abuja’s fast-growing suburbs, expressed regret for agreeing to be posted to Abuja. He said: “I lived and worked in Sokoto before I was transferred to Abuja five years ago. What my eyes have seen in the hands of agents and landlords within this period, my mouth cannot say it all.
“I stayed in a friend’s house for over a year before renting my first two-bedroom apartment in Kubwa for N400,000. I also paid N50,000 as service charge for security and water rate. The agent collected another N50,000 in fees, making it N500,000.
“I qualified for and got a loan from the office and paid for the initial two years. The rent moved to N700,000 by the third year, then N1.5 million.
“In January, I received a letter from the agent, who is a lawyer, asking that I pay N2.5 million by July when my next rent is due, or consider ‘this notification as the landlord’s notification to repossess his property’.
“I now believe it when I read somewhere that a former FCT Minister said Abuja is not meant for everybody.”
His story is not different from that of Bosede Abolarin, who came into Abuja from her native Kogi State in search of a better life. She said: “When I came here about three years ago, I paid N200,000 for a self-contained room in an old house in Kubwa Phase IV.
“After one year, I was asked to pay N300,000, which I struggled to pay. Now that they have increased the rent to N400,000, I’m left with no choice but to look for accommodation in Byazhin, where I’m splitting the N300,000 rent for a single room in a makeshift house with a friend.”
She went on to say: “My current accommodation is far from what I would consider ideal in normal circumstances. It is a crowded ‘face-me-I-face-you’ compound where we share toilets and bathrooms with other tenants. I have to manage for now because it is the nearest place to the filling station where I currently work.”
A one-room self-contained apartment, which used to be between N400,000 and N600,000 in Gwarimpa and environs, now costs between N1.5 million and N2 million.
Maryam Otache, a civil servant in one of Abuja’s federal ministries, was alarmed when she was asked to pay N4 million for a three-bedroom flat located at Dantata Estate in Kubwa. “The rent was N2.5 million per annum last year,” she explained.
Kaduna: Tenants lament exploitation by landlords, agents
Residents of Kaduna State say the rising cost of accommodation has become a major burden, particularly in urban areas such as Kawo, Malali, Ungwan Rimi, and other parts of the Kaduna metropolis.
A resident of Kawo, Malam Salihu Abdullahi Dambo, said tenants are often subjected to sudden and unjustified rent increments. According to him, residents who have occupied houses for many years sometimes find their rent abruptly increased once newly built houses in the area begin attracting higher prices.
He alleged that property agents frequently advise landlords to raise the rent of older buildings to match the prices of new ones.
“Some agents convince landlords that since new houses are going for N1 million, they should also increase the rent of their older buildings to almost the same level,” he said.
According to him, renting a two-bedroom apartment in areas such as Malali and Kawo now costs between N800,000 and N1 million per year, while agency fees can be as high as N50,000. He added that a one-bedroom apartment in those locations currently costs between N500,000 and N600,000 annually, noting that prices often vary depending on the specific location.
Dambo also accused some agents of violating tenants’ privacy by bringing prospective renters to inspect occupied apartments without prior notice or permission.
“Sometimes agents come with people to inspect apartments without informing the current occupants. This creates discomfort and tension between tenants and landlords,” he said.
He appealed to the Kaduna State Government to introduce regulations that would protect tenants from arbitrary rent increases. According to him, landlords should be required to give at least one year’s notice before implementing any rent increment to enable tenants to prepare or seek alternative accommodation.
Tenants in some parts of Kaduna have also raised concerns about landlords using renovation notices as a strategy to increase rents. One such case occurred when Mr. and Mrs. Alvan George received a quit notice asking them to vacate their apartment at Angwan-Boro Junction in Sabo, Chikun Local Government Area. The notice was not issued to the couple alone. Five other tenants occupying the two-storey building, which houses six families, were also asked to vacate their apartments within the same period.
The landlord, simply identified as Mr. James, said the notice was necessary to allow for renovation of the property. He explained that the building, constructed in the early 2000s, required urgent repairs.
“If you guys move out, the apartments will be fixed within the shortest possible time frame,” he told the tenants, adding that anyone interested could return after the renovation.
However, investigations by our correspondent indicated that the renovation plan was followed by a rent increment. Before the tenants were served the quit notice, the two-bedroom apartment with a single toilet facility was rented for N250,000 per annum. After the tenants vacated the premises, the landlord reportedly increased the rent to N400,000 per year.
Kano: Tenants lament skyrocketing prices of house rent as landlords defend action
This is certainly not the best of times for tenants in Kano as they complain bitterly about skyrocketing house rents. For instance, a tenant, Abdul Waheed, lamented the hike in rents without any form of repairs or renovation carried out on the houses. According to him: “I stayed in a two-bedroom in Sabon Gari. The rent was increased from N260,000 to N420,000. If it had been increased to N300,000, it would have been better. But it was suddenly increased to N420,000 without any renovation. And I’m staying alone. So I’m currently searching for another apartment.
“If not for fear of crisis, I rented a three-bedroom in Naibawa for N80,000. That was 12 years ago. So I relocated to Sabon Gari. When I moved there, the house was N130,000 (two-bedroom). So it was from this N130,000 that the rent was increased to N260,000. Then it was increased after three years, but now it is after every one year. So just last year, the rent was increased to N420,000 from N260,000. And the landlord will tell you: if you can’t pay, move out,” he said.
One Taiye Mohammed said the high cost of rent has forced him to move to an area where the houses are cheap but with small rooms and poor architecture. “I used to stay in Kwankwassiya city. We pay the guard man between N50,000 and N70,000, who gave us three bedrooms. It now costs N500,000 to N750,000.
‘’I have now relocated to Gurungawa. Houses here are N350,000 up to N500,000, but the rooms are tiny and the architecture is poor,” Mohammed said.
The Head of Property Management at Jide Taiwo and Co., Kabiru Adaji, said the cost of building materials and rapid development in terms of infrastructure in Kano State was responsible for the skyrocketing of house rents in the state.
He said: “You know the governor of Kano is really working on all the roads in the Central Business Areas, CBAs, especially Government Reserved Areas, GRAs, and most of the time, when good roads pass through a street, it increases the value of the property. So development in terms of road infrastructure is one of the reasons for the increment.
“Another reason is the economic situation in the country – the cost of building materials and what have you. The old landlords are hiding behind this reason, which is applicable only to landlords with newly erected buildings.
‘’But by the time they hear that the new landlords have increased their house rents, they too hide behind that to increase their rents,” Adaji said.
Why rents are skyrocketing, what Nigeria must do
Nigeria’s housing crisis has assumed alarming proportions, with experts warning that the country must build about 550,000 housing units annually for the next 10 years to bridge a deficit now estimated at 14.9 million units. The figure underscores the scale of a crisis regarded as one of the worst globally, as millions of Nigerians remain without access to decent and affordable shelter. Recent data from the World Bank and the Bank of Industry suggest that the actual funding required to close this gap could exceed ¦ 59 trillion, a staggering sum that highlights the disconnect between current budgetary provisions and the reality on the ground. Apart from shortage, the country, according to analysts, is battling a dual housing challenge—a widening supply gap and poor housing quality. Available data indicate that about 15.2 million existing homes are substandard, plagued by structural defects, overcrowding, and lack of basic amenities. In major urban centres, the situation is more severe. In Lagos, for instance, the housing shortfall is estimated at about 3.4 million units, driven largely by rapid urban migration and a population density that is 10 times the national average.
Why rents are no longer affordable
Findings show that the affordability crisis is driven by a combination of economic and structural factors, which have pushed rents beyond the reach of average Nigerians. This is compounded by the “two-year rent advance” demand common in cities like Lagos and Abuja, which forces tenants to seek high-interest personal loans just to secure a roof. Mr Obinna Anayo, who is struggling to erect a storey building in Isashi area of Lagos, said he had spent about three million naira on sundry fees, taxes and charges and is yet to start digging the foundation. His words: “Many tenants complain that rents are high but they don’t know what landlords go through to build a house. I want to build a small storey building on my one plot of land but I have spent over three million naira on fees. I bought the land for N50 million. I paid N200,000 development levy to the Estate and brought three tippers of filling sand for N450,000. Survey, building plan, approvals by the state government, local government and taxes cost me over two million naira.”
Low income levels
With wages largely stagnant amid rising inflation—which hit a multi-decade high recently—a significant proportion of Nigerians simply cannot afford prevailing rent levels, especially in urban areas. The purchasing power of the average civil servant has been decimated, meaning that even “low-cost” housing remains a luxury.
High cost of building materials
The prices of cement, steel, and other construction inputs have surged in recent years, driven by foreign exchange fluctuations and high energy costs for manufacturers. A bag of cement, which sold for significantly less a few years ago, has seen massive price hikes, forcing developers to transfer these “input shocks” to tenants through higher rents.
Weak mortgage system
Limited access to long-term housing finance remains a major constraint. Nigeria’s mortgage-to-GDP ratio sits at less than 1%, compared to 80% in the UK or 30% in South Africa. Mortgage loans are scarce and often come with double-digit interest rates, sometimes as high as 25%, making home ownership unattainable for most citizens who cannot provide the 20-30% equity contribution typically required.
Land acquisition bottlenecks
Experts blame the cumbersome provisions of the Land Use Act for delays and high costs in securing land titles. The process of obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) can take years and cost millions in “unofficial” fees, a factor that discourages institutional investment in mass housing. This lack of clear title also prevents many homeowners from using their property as collateral to access credit.
Urbanisation pressure
The influx of people into cities such as Abuja and Port Harcourt continues to outpace housing supply. Nigeria’s urbanization rate is approximately 4.1% annually, one of the fastest in the world, which creates a permanent state of “demand shock” that keeps rents on a vertical trajectory.
Limited government intervention
Budgetary allocations to housing remain grossly inadequate, with recent interventions delivering only a fraction of required units. While the Family Homes Funds and the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) have made efforts, their reach is often limited to the upper-middle class, leaving the “informal sector” workers entirely unserved.
Home ownership out of reach
Statistics paint a grim picture of housing access in the country. Only about 32.5 per cent of urban Nigerians own their homes, while over 49 per cent live in rented accommodation, leaving millions vulnerable to rent hikes and evictions. The situation has triggered the rapid growth of slums and informal settlements, worsening poverty, inequality, and pressure on infrastructure such as roads, water, and sanitation.
Way out of crisis
Stakeholders insist that reversing the trend will require bold, coordinated, and sustained policy actions. Top among the recommendations is the adoption of mass affordable housing schemes capable of delivering hundreds of thousands of units annually, particularly for low- and middle-income earners. This must be supported by “social housing” models where the government provides the land and infrastructure for free to reduce the final cost of the units. Experts also advocate the strengthening of institutions such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and expansion of the National Housing Fund to improve access to affordable mortgage financing. Other measures include the use of local building materials, such as stabilized earth bricks and local timber, to reduce construction costs by up to 30%, and comprehensive reform of land administration laws. There are also calls for slum upgrading programmes, rather than outright demolitions, as a quicker and more cost-effective way of improving living conditions for millions already residing in informal settlements.
Bottom line
With a housing deficit nearing 15 million units, experts warn that Nigeria’s crisis is no longer just about supply but also affordability. Unless the country scales up housing delivery through technology-driven construction, reforms land and mortgage systems, and improves real disposable incomes, the gap will continue to widen—leaving millions more Nigerians priced out of decent shelter and trapped in a cycle of housing poverty.
