The attitude of agents and caretakers in the Housing sector in Lagos have caused so much inflation in the lease and rent, of properties.
Experts say that 70 to 80 percent increase in property renting and leasing in Lagos is as a result of Greed of the so-called estate agents and caretakers. These agents and caretakers have become so powerful that they now dictate to Landlords. They usually add huge sum, higher than what the landlord had in mind for the new tenants.
In the course of our findings, we spoke to one Mr Azeez, who just rented a room and palour self contained in the Oworoshoki area of Lagos. He lamented what he went through before he was able to get the apartment he currently occupies. Mr Azeez had been on the look out for a new apartment for many months before he was told about the new one he just rented.
The old tenants who have been living in the house before his arrival were paying Three Hundred and Fifty thousand naira (N350,000) for their room and parlour self contain apartment. The arrival of Mr Azeez changed the dynamic of things, as he was asked to pay five hundred thousand naira (N500,000) instead of Three Hundred and Fifty thousand naira (N350,000) which the old tenants were paying.
“When I was searching for house, I had a lot of offers but I wasn’t pleased with any until I found this. Currently, vacant apartments are scarce especially in the Lagos Mainland. So when I finally got this one, I had to pay extra to be able to secure it. The agent who helped me to secure this house had told me that there were two people who were ready to pay for the same apartment but if I could pay Five Hundred thousand naira N500,000) I would be considered because the landlord had told them to pay Four Hundred hundred thousand naira (N400,000). So when I paid and the landlord received Five Hundred thousand naira (N500,000) alert he had to refund Four Hundred thousand (N400,000) he earlier received because, I paid more.”
This did not go down well with the old tenants because they were paying Three Hundred and Fifty thousand naira (N350,000) as against the Five Hundred thousand naira (N500,000) I paid. One of the old tenants also spoke and revealed that, the landlord was compelled to increase the because of the new tenant. This is the usual case around Lagos and its environs.
The landlords, sometimes, are not aware of these sharp practices by the agents but some of them would not reject a rent higher than what they penned down for their properties. If the landlord had offered his house for N800,000 rent and at the end, an agent brings N1million, the landlord will not reject it.”
This is one of the reasons real estate agencies in Nigeria are being regarded as finger-snap money making domain for every dick and harry. The practice, until recently, was very loose, largely unregulated and did not require serious professional qualification or expertise to become a practitioner.
Estate agency in the conventional form is not practised by only those trained in property business but also people from other backgrounds.
Another thing is that, many caretakers because of their greed encourage landlords to increase their rents. What they do is that, they will not accept money from anybody who won’t pay above the normal rate and when someone comes in with higher rate the old tenants will be compelled to match the current amount of the new entrant. This is the tactics Lagos Landlords allegedly deploy to increase house rent, especially in the Mainland.
The law is that your landlord or his agent has no powers to increase your rent without your knowledge and consent. Where your landlord wishes to increase your rent, he should invite you to discuss and agree on a suitable rent taking into consideration, the prevailing rental rate for such apartment at the time in question or any other particular circumstance applicable to the apartment.
Where your landlord has increased your rent without your consent, it is advisable for you to proceed to write him through a lawyer first, explaining the position of the law and any other reason which makes the rent increase unreasonable and suggesting a suitable rent.
Should the landlord refuse to change his mind about the rent, the law permits you to proceed to court and apply in the required form for an order of declaration to the effect that the rent increase by your landlord is unlawful, arbitrary and unreasonable.
In Lagos, where a landlord of a residential building refuses to accept the rent from you, due to disagreement in the increase, you may proceed to court and apply to the court to allow you pay the rent to the court’s registry. The curious fact is that where this occurs, your landlord may not receive the full rent again. The court reserves the right to retain 10% and pay him the remainder.
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