Olajide, A.
In Lagos, some landlords are notorious for skyrocketing house rents, making the city one of the most expensive places to live in West Africa. While several factors contribute to this issue, real estate agents play a significant role in driving up rental fees. The real estate sector, as it is now, seems to be the custodian of dubious characters whose only motive is to make life difficult for lessee in the state.
The sector is not regulated and that had given room, even for the people who had wasted their youthful time doing rubbish. The basic things they does is share information of available renting apartment across chains, and that would definitely skyrocketed the agency fee, in many instances to the triple of basic renting fee at times.
In some cases too, they will rent out a property they knows that had been sold or about to be sold to desperate tenants. Only for the new landlord to come after some months to give short quit notice to the occupiers. A brother of mine recently suffered same fate around Idimu Lagos State.
The Lagos State Tenancy Law that was enacted by the former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola in 2011, understandably takes care of many of the concerns. But our mentality and system of “judgement sold to the rich” is making it unenforceable. Truly,how would a civil servant who earns thirty thousand naira monthly minimum wage initiated the enforcement of the parts of Lagos tenancy law of 2011 which frown at estate agents extortion and forceful eviction?
The real estate industry in Lagos operates fairly autonomously, with minimal government regulation or oversight. This lack of accountability allows real estate agents to inflate prices to maximize their profits, as there is no predetermined benchmark to ensure ethical pricing practices.
A man reported yesterday that he rented a house in March and the house was sold off in June. He narrated that the estate agent that got the house for him is aware that there was ongoing negotiation to sell off the property as at the time he rented it. So the new owner is now charging all the tenants to leave at the end of August.
When he contacted the same estate agent to get a new place for him, he gave him the estimation of 7,000 for a single room per month which is 84,000 per year, and also told him he will pay additional 60,000 for agreement, 60,000 for commission and 20,000 for damages fee. That brings the extra amount, aside the basic renting fee to 140,000; almost the double of the basic rent. And that’s how it is across board even higher in some areas.
Ironically, the inflated agency fee don’t get to the landlords and would always result to collision cause whenever there is a problem of refunding the tenants . A man said how he got back only the basic rent from the landlord when he discovered that the apartment he rented is not spacious enough to accommodate his family. He said the landlord returned only basic fee because that’s only what he got from the agent.
However, some agents are aware of landlords’ desire today maximize their rental income, often propose higher rates to tenants, knowing that landlords will approve them. By collaborating, agents and landlords perpetuate the cycle of high rent charges in the city.
While various factors contribute to the high rental fees in Lagos, it is undeniable that real estate agents play a considerable role in this issue. Their ability to manipulate prices, exploit the limited housing supply, and lack of regulation reinforces the exorbitant cost of renting in the city. Addressing this problem requires effective regulation, transparency, and the promotion of fair practices to ensure affordable housing for Lagos residents.
