The ongoing economic crisis in Nigeria is severely affecting renters in Lagos as landlords transfer the burden of rising inflation to tenants — pushing residents farther out, disrupting children’s education, and worsening already lengthy commutes.
With a population exceeding 20 million, Lagos, the country’s expanding economic hub, has struggled for years to meet housing demands, with approximately 3,000 people added to its population daily.
However, recent economic reforms by the government, including the floating of the naira and the removal of a fuel subsidy, have caused economic shocks.
In a city where oil wealth, a thriving middle class, and millions of informal workers coexist, rents are rising both on Lagos’ upscale islands and the more affordable mainland.
“I might just have to find a way to plead with my landlord,” said Yemisi Odusanya, a 40-year-old cookbook author and food blogger.
After giving birth to twins last year, she’s uncertain about finding a better deal elsewhere for her family of seven, even after her landlord in Lekki increased the rent by 120 percent.
“I’m planning to pack out,” said Bartholomew Idowu, a transportation worker, though he remained unsure where he and his children would relocate.
His mainland landlord raised the rent by 28 percent, from 350,000 naira ($232) per year to 450,000 naira — a substantial amount in a country where the GDP per capita is $835.
Children changing schools
The government recently adjusted its inflation data, lowering the official year-on-year inflation rate in January to 24.48 percent from 34.80 percent in December.
“The way out at the moment is to look for a way to pay,” said Dennis Erezi, a journalist, explaining that his 31-percent rent increase was still cheaper than moving.
Jimoh Saheed, a personal trainer, was forced to leave his one-room flat in Ikoyi when his landlord more than doubled his rent to 2.5 million naira a year and a half ago.
Relocating to the mainland distanced him from his clients, and his two children had to change schools and now pay for transportation as they no longer live within walking distance.
Late last year, his new landlord increased his rent by 25 percent.
“This is affecting me emotionally, it’s affecting me mentally, and in fact, physically,” said the 39-year-old, who added that despite taking on more work, his income hasn’t kept pace with inflation.
Legal experts state that rent increases are supposed to be negotiated between tenants and landlords rather than imposed unilaterally.
However, without the threat of legal action, such laws are rarely enforced, said attorney Valerian Nwadike, noting a rise in tenant-landlord disputes over the past year.
Luxury Market
The government anticipates that its economic reforms will eventually yield benefits, but for nearly two years, Nigerians have endured one of the worst economic crises in decades.
Structural challenges, such as high interest rates making mortgages unaffordable and a bureaucratic regulatory system, are further exacerbating the situation, said housing analyst Babatunde Akinpelu.
Lagos attracts a disproportionate number of jobs in Nigeria, prompting a constant influx of new residents.
Despite numerous construction projects, many new developments cater to the luxury market — targeting foreigners, Nigerians in the diaspora, or oil sector workers who typically earn in dollars.
The result is a two-tiered housing market, where increased luxury housing supply doesn’t benefit the wider population, said economist Steve Onyeiwu.
“Most of (Lagos’s) landlords are exposed to dollar-denominated expenses,” such as loans or mortgages for properties abroad, even as the naira depreciates, said a director at Island Shoreline, a property management company. He added that his own landlord recently attempted to raise his rent by 100 percent.
Public transit improvements, such as the new rail line connecting Lagos and Ibadan, may ease pressure, but for now, a “snowball effect” of rising prices persists, he noted, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of rent hikes.
With leases typically paid upfront for one to three years, both landlords and tenants aim to secure favourable terms to protect against inflation.
However, the current surge in rents is “alarming,” said real estate agent Ismail Oriyomi Akinola, highlighting 200 percent increases on the affluent Victoria Island.
“Good shelter is very key to every individual,” he said. “Not only for the rich.”
Credit: AFP
