Festus Akanbi, in this report, captures the severity of the housing crisis which has pushed rent beyond the reach of hardworking citizens in urban centres like Lagos and Abuja
The relentless surge in house rents across urban centres, especially Lagos, has become an unyielding storm, mercilessly sweeping through the lives of residents with crushing force.
Once a city of dreams, Lagos now teeters on the edge of a housing crisis, where rent hikes soar beyond the reach of hardworking citizens. The middle class is shrinking under the weight of exorbitant rents, forcing many to retreat to distant outskirts, enduring gruelling hours in chaotic traffic just to make a living.
For those who can’t escape to the fringes, desperation leads to makeshift shelters under bridges, where survival is a daily battle against insecurity, filth, and hopelessness. The frustration boils over as landlords, emboldened by unchecked greed, hike rents at will, leaving tenants scrambling for survival in a city where affording a roof over one’s head is becoming a privilege rather than a right.
Finding Shelter Under Lagos Bridges
Caught in this web of uncertainty, frustration, and hopelessness, some Lagos residents were forced to live in squalor, not minding the safety implications of their desperation to live in the city at all costs.
Take for instance, last year, the Lagos State government went ahead to dislodge some people in about 86 partitioned rooms, some measuring 10×10 and others 10×12, of makeshift apartments under the Dolphin Estate Bridge, who claimed to be tenants and had been paying N250,000 yearly to criminals who posed as landlords. According to the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, the move is ongoing for the removal of illegal structures in line with the provisions of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Management Law.
The exercise was extended to Ijora Causeway Bridge and the Lagos Blue Rail Line where it continued with the evacuation of squatters following the lapse of eviction notice. Reports said illegal occupants under the Eko Bridge in the Ebute-Ero area of Lagos Island who were recently ejected by operatives of the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) are yet to vacate the place. Many of the people have refused to relocate weeks after their forced eviction.
A recent report by BuyLetLive reveals that approximately 98.5% of Lagos residents live in rented apartments, driven by economic pressures such as rising inflation, volatile exchange rates, and the high cost of property ownership. The report highlights that the demand for rental properties is particularly strong in affordable areas like Yaba, Surulere, and Gbagada, yet the supply remains insufficient, contributing to a housing deficit of over three million units in Lagos State.
High Rental Costs
The high cost of land, building materials, and mortgage rates make homeownership unattainable for many, forcing residents, especially migrants and lower-income individuals, to remain tenants. Renting offers flexibility, affordability, and proximity to workplaces, making it the preferred option for the majority of residents. Despite the increasing demand for rentals, the shortage of available housing has led to significant increases in rental costs, with even small apartments commanding high prices. Over the past five years, rents in Lagos have surged by 91.32%, exacerbating the challenge of finding affordable housing.
Experts warned that the rising rental prices across Lagos and other urban centres in Nigeria, unmatched by similar increases in incomes, pose significant economic and social challenges for residents and particularly squeeze the middle and lower classes.
They said the disparity between soaring rents and stagnant salaries could lead to more significant problems such as increased homelessness and a surge in demand for affordable housing, which is already scarce in Lagos.
A tenant who lives in the Obawole area of Ogba, Lagos who spoke with THISDAY said, “From here, in a space of three years, the rent rose from N250,000 to N850,000. This was the reason we relocated to Idimu where we paid, by our first year, N450,000 per annum for a three-bedroom apartment. But, with more influx of people from places like Surulere, Ilupeju, Gbagada, and others, which are classified as middle-class locations, rent rose significantly to over a million,” he narrated.
He explained that by January 2023, a two-bedroom apartment in a nearby rural neighbourhood was renting for just N500,000 per annum. But in the last six months, rent for the same size apartment has jumped to between N1 million and N1.2 million.
Another Lagos resident, Mr. Kolawole Johnson lives in Okota, along Ago Palace Way, where, according to him, rent has jumped so high that a two-bedroom apartment now goes for between N2million and N2.5million while the three-bedroom apartment is priced between N3million and N3.5million depending on the age of the house.
“As we speak, you can hardly get land for sale in this area in the primary market. All the land there has been sold out and whatever is available is in the secondary market, which is why the prices are so high. It is the same story for commercial properties. Shops are hard to come by and where you find one, it is pricey,” he added.
Meanwhile, a 2020 Pison Housing Report put Lagos’ housing deficit at three million units. This shows that millions of residents in the state could be homeless.
An estate surveyor and valuer with A. A. Babarinde & Co., a Lagos-based real estate firm, Adepetu Emmanuel, was quoted as saying that rising rents in Lagos are primarily due to a significant influx of individuals from other states and rural regions seeking better opportunities.
He noted that this mass migration into Lagos intensifies the demand for housing, consequently driving up rental costs as landlords and property owners charge higher rents due to the competition for living spaces.
A stakeholder in the property business, Mr. Kennedy Anene admitted that Lagos state has been experiencing rapid growth and there has been a tremendous demand for land, which is an essential component for every urban development and growth, adding that the increased rate of individuals and corporate needs in major parts of Lagos to another has therefore generated a high demand for land development.
According to him, “The high cost of acquiring land has also affected the rate of development in terms of adequate residential accommodation but gives more possibility for joint venture partnership.”
High Cost of Building Materials
Some property agents attributed the surge in house rent to the corresponding high cost of building materials which has slowed down new construction in most parts of the country. Therefore a slowdown in new construction amidst increasing demand for housing and infrastructure development due to population growth and urbanisation are the excuses for the surge in house rent in Lagos and other urban centres like Abuja, Portharcourt, Ibadan, Awka, Onitsha, and Kano. This surge in demand has put pressure on the limited supply of building materials, leading to price hikes.
Ahmed Tijani, a Kogi indigene based in Lagos complained that although he had to rent a two-bedroom flat in Ojodu Berger to avoid the prohibitive cost of rent on the highland where he works, the recent increase by his landlord has made nonsense of his cost-cutting measures.
“There’s no hiding place anymore for low-income earners in this city. My first place of dwelling in this city was Surulere, where I first lived in a two-bedroom apartment and later upgraded to a three-bedroom flat after I got married and subsequently had children. My rent at the time was N250,000 per year. He said he decided to move to Ojodu when his landlord increased his rent to N500,000.
“It is painful that costs and rents are rising almost daily when our incomes as workers remain static,” he lamented.
To reduce rent and address the housing deficit in Lagos and Nigeria, the government should implement mass social housing projects, incentivise private sector investments, and improve mortgage accessibility.
