Nigeria’s Housing Crisis: Unchecked Rent Hikes and the Need for Reform
House Rent in Nigeria has taken another context nowadays, the rates at which house rent is increasing is inversely proportional to the earning of the people. The House owner in a viz of landlord, landlady and caretaker are increasing their house rent without considering the renters.
The government is not making any step to avert this garrulous asperity being orchestrated by the house owner or caretakers. Most especially, in this age of Agent or Caretakers as middleman or middle woman that serves as an intermediary between the owner and the renters. They will list all sorts of minding provoking fees for renters while making the space available for them. They will state the fees into various categories with enormous charges. Such that, the agent fee will be half of the basic house rent and they will also list other fees such as agreement, lawyer fee, caution fees among others.
In recent times, the house rent is not reasonable anymore for public workers due to the perpetual increments in the rentage fee. In developing cities of some part of Nigeria, the house rent fee is now ranging from #500,000 to #1.5million meanwhile, the minimum wage is pegged at #40,000 or thereabouts as the new minimum wage is yet to be feasible or implemented in some states.
In a sane society, there are some factors that need to be considered before the regular hike in rentage fees such as road networks, infrastructural development, internet network, electricity, and other amenities alongside affordability. The house rent fee is no longer affordable by people that are salary earners or basic entrepreneurs or traders.
These agents or Caretakers also established discrimination in selecting renters talking about tribe, ethnic, religion and some will even ask for religious denomination, they will be dishing out unreasonable and unrealistic clause to renters and other forms of rules and regulations to compels the renters.
While some of the agreement terms are reasonable, it is noteworthy to say, some of them are not as they are just there to subject the renter on the caretaker or landlady or landlord shadow.
In addition part of the land law or property law are not being effective nowadays as those agents do not really care for the renters well-being or comfortability, what they really need is to receive their portion and that is all. In a case whereby the renter has to complain to them about a facility that is in a deplorable state, they will not respond to the call.
It is time for the government to make amendments on laws pertaining to renting an apartment to regulate perpetual increments and bogus fees by agents and caretakers and to ensure they are accountable to the facility leased out as at when needed.
Thanks for reading through, today's writing challenge ends here.
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3/09/2024
Anwo Sunday Adedeji