Abuja residents lament rent upsurge, seek govt action

Many residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have raised the alarm over the relentless increase in house rents across the territory.

A cross-section of the residents who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the excessively high rent in the territory and its districts is pushing them to the brink of displacement.

They said the unaffordable housing costs are forcing them to move out of their homes and neighbourhoods, often to areas with fewer resources, infrastructure and vulnerable to violent attacks.

They appealed to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, and the federal government to urgently step in and regulate the housing market in the territory.

NAN reports that the growing concern arose, as landlords, aided by “shylock” estate agents in several districts of the territory continue to hike rents, agent, agreement and caution fees, arbitrarily.

According to Moses Danjuma, a civil servant, the low and middle-income earners in the FCT are finding affordable housing very challenging due to high rental costs with arbitrary fees, especially in areas hitherto known to be budget-friendly.

Mr Danjuma said the situation is fast becoming unsustainable, particularly in areas like Kubwa, Lugbe, Gwarimpa, and Lokogoma and many more, where most middle-class residents reside.

“I was living in Lokogoma before, where rent for a two-bedroom flat was between N1 million to N1.2 million, suddenly my landlord increased my annual rent to N2 million.

“Where am I supposed to get that kind of money, when minimum wage is just N70,000?

“I had to move to Zuba, where I paid N700,000 for a two-bedroom flat, but the challenge, however, is the longer period and higher cost I spend going to work daily.”

NAN reports that the distance between Lokogoma and Abuja city centre is about 10km while the distance from Zuba to the city centre is about 36km.

“If I drive my car, a Toyota Camry, to work, I spend an average of N10,000 for fuelling to and fro, daily. On days I don’t drive, I spend up to N4,000 on public transportation.

“This is overwhelming because the farther you go to get a cheaper house, the more expensive your transportation becomes; so I don’t know which is better.”

Mr Danjuma, therefore, appealed to the federal government and Mr Wike to intervene and regulate rents in FCT.

Auwal Idris, another civil servant living in Kubwa, said: “My landlord just increased my annual rent in a one-bedroom apartment I occupied, from ₦500,000 to ₦700,000, without any justification.

“This is an apartment I have lived in for two years. Salaries are not increasing, yet rent keeps going up. How are we supposed to survive?”

Mr Idris said that when he tried to look for another apartment, he was shocked by the amount of the rent and the conditions attached.

“In the course of my search, I discovered that a self-contained flat in Kubwa now, costs between N600,000 and N800,000, a one-bedroom flat is between N1 million and N1.2 million, while a two-bedroom is between N1.5 million and N2 million.

“Before you can secure any of these, you will pay an additional mandatory 20 per cent agent/agreement fee and 10 per cent caution fee,” he said.

NAN reports that, to rent an apartment in the FCT, besides the actual rent, agent fee is paid to the real estate agent who facilitates the rental process, while the agreement fee is for drafting, reviewing, or processing the tenancy agreement.

The caution fee, also known as a security deposit, is a refundable amount held by the landlord to cover potential damages or unpaid bills.

Mr Idris said that considering the frustrating development, he had no choice but to quickly renew his rent with the increased amount before the landlord would issue him a quit notice.

More pathetic is the story of Akanni Ogundipe, another civil servant who said his landlord, in a two-bedroom apartment he lived in Kubwa, notified him of 30 per cent increase in his house rent.

He said his wife encouraged him, that, rather than paying the increased rent of N1.5 million, they should use the money to complete their house project in Kaginni, a developing community close to Kubwa.

“In addition to my savings for the annual rent, I took a N2 million loan from the cooperative society in my office and used it for the housing project.

“Though, not fully completed, I made the house habitable and I moved in with my family happily, at least, we got a reprieve from landlord palaver,” Mr Ogundipe said.

Mr Ogundipe said their joy was, however, short-lived, because within six months after they moved into the new house in Kaginni, they were attacked twice by armed robbers.

He said that during the attacks, the armed robbers took away with their phones, money and other valuables.

He added that the robbers carted away their household equipment, and wounded his first son, who was recalcitrant during the second operation.

Mr Ogundigbe further narrated the ordeal of his friend, whom he simply identified as Mr Michael, who equally moved to his new house under the same circumstances as his.

According to him, Mr Michael hurriedly completed his house in Chikakore, another community in Kubwa, to escape the onslaught of Shylock landlords and agents, and moved in with his family members.

He said that less than a year in the new house located at a remote site, they were attacked by bandits who kidnapped Mr Michael and his wife.

“When the kidnappers demanded ransom for their release, we rallied round and paid N20 million.

“Unfortunately, after spending over a month in captivity, it was only Michael who returned alive. His wife was killed by their abductors,” he narrated.

Mr Ogundipe said both of them had abandoned their houses and moved to respective smaller rented apartments in Gwarimpa.

The civil servant appealed to the FCT authority to promptly address the challenges of high rental costs, limited availability of suitable options and insecurity, resulting in displacement of residents.

Aniete Umanah, a teacher in Gwarinpa, lamented: “People are being evicted because they can’t afford the unreasonably inflated rents.

“This is not just a housing issue; it is a humanitarian crisis waiting to happen in the FCT.

“House owners who built their houses long ago, are giving excuses of present high cost of land and building materials to increase rents as if they just built a new house.

“This is not fair, and the government needs to intervene,” she said.

Many residents who spoke to NAN called for legislation or housing policy to cap rent increments and address the housing deficit in the FCT.

They called on the FCT minister to rescind his earlier pronouncement that he could not regulate tenancy in the territory because “it is market-driven.”

The residents said they believed that the government’s intervention is the only way to restore balance and protect vulnerable tenants.

They frowned at the situation, where there is no department or unit in the FCTA designated for housing and tenancy regulation in the territory.

Specifically, they called on the FCT authorities and the elected representatives in the National Assembly to take a cue from the Lagos State government, which has gone far in passing a bill for a law to regulate tenancy in the state.

NAN reports that the Lagos State Tenancy Bill, which has passed second reading before the State House of Assembly, is aimed at redefining the legal framework for tenancy agreements, rights, responsibilities, and eviction processes in Lagos state.
If passed, the law will ensure that landlords, tenants, and agents fully understand their rights and responsibilities.

House owners, on the other hand, attributed the rent surge to a combination of inflation, inadequate housing supply, and high demand.

Moshood Aremu, a landlord, explained that, although he had built his house long ago but the low rent he was collecting could not meet his needs.

“Things are high in the market and I have no other sources of income, so I have to use what I have to make ends meet,” he said.

Edna Yakubu, a landlady in Dutse Alhaji, said that estate agents sometime were to blame for the hike in house rent, as well as the desperation of some people to live in certain areas.

“These people succeeded in defining high-brow areas and attaching some kind of price tags to houses in those areas.

“Sometimes, too, estate agents do some sort of manipulations to make extra money off both house owner and tenant.

“My two-bedroom flat was going for N800,000, but for two years the agent was collecting N1 million and keeping the extra N200,000 for himself.

“He felt the house should be higher than N800,000, and the tenant was paying, before I discovered,” Mrs Yakubu said.

On the other hand, some house agents who spoke to NAN said it was not their fault that house rents are expensive.

Abdullahi Gambo, an agent in Gwarinpa, said that most landlords don’t compensate them when they introduce tenants to occupy their vacant apartments

He said the 20 per cent fee for agreement and legal fees was devised in order to get paid for their services, before the tenant could move into the house.

READ ALSO: Lagos Assembly debates bill to regulate house rents, agents, others

Mr Gambo justified that the fee was increased from 10 per cent to 20 per cent because of the nation’s economic reality, characterised by persistent challenges, headline inflation and the need to make ends meet.

The exploitation of tenants by landlords and agents, with its attendant consequences, is no less a crime to be redressed by binding regulations.

It is a generally accepted concept that “where there is no law, there is no transgression”, meaning that without a specific law or rule, there can be no violation or breaking of that law.

Therefore, for the common good, and to address these anomalies in the sector, the FCT minister should rescind his earlier pronouncement on tenancy regulation.

The minister should consider the clamour by residents on the urgent need to cap rent increments, address the housing deficit and regulate the relationship between landlords, estate agents and tenants in the FCT.

(NAN)