Tenants Face Up To 200% Rent Increase Amid Stagnant Income

BY KINGSLEY OKOH, Lagos and ANAYO ONUKWUGHA, Port Harcourt

The surging cost of house rents across Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Asaba and other major Nigerian cities, amid largely stagnant incomes, is pushing many middle-class Nigerians into severe financial distress and, in some cases, homelessness.

Findings indicate that the cost of renting apartments and renewing leases in Lagos and its neighbouring Ogun communities has risen by more than 200 per cent in the past few years, deepening the housing burden on residents.

Market surveys show that rents for residential flats and small commercial spaces have jumped by over 90 per cent in several Lagos locations, including Lekki, Ajah, Surulere, Festac, Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa and Victoria Island.

Similarly, rents in suburban communities such as Ikotun, Ikorodu, Egbeda, Iyana-Ipaja, Agege, Abule-Egba, and Ojodu-Berger have climbed sharply, pushing beyond the affordability threshold for lower-income earners.

On Lagos Island, for instance, one-bedroom apartments that rented for about N2.5 million in 2024 now attract as much as N8 million in 2025, depending on location and level of furnishing.

Two-bedroom flats have risen from about N8 million to as high as N45 million, while three-bedroom apartments in prime locations now command up to N100 million.

A similar trend is evident in Abuja, where two-bedroom flats that rented for between N3 million and N10 million last year now go for as much as N20 million in highbrow districts such as Maitama and Asokoro.

On the Lagos mainland, the impact is equally severe. Along Ago Palace Way, a three-bedroom flat that rented for N700,000 in late 2023 was initially increased to N2.5 million before settling at N1.7 million after negotiation. In Isolo, a shop previously let for N400,000 now goes for N1.5 million, with landlords reportedly unwilling to negotiate.

Rents have also risen sharply in parts of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Owerri, Imo State, as residents groan under the cost of renewals and securing new apartments.

A resident of Borokiri in Port Harcourt, who identified himself simply as Umo, told LEADERSHIP that the annual rent on his two-room apartment, previously N120,000, was increased to N250,000 on January 1, 2026.

He said that although he had no choice but to pay, the new rent has placed enormous pressure on his family, given the current economic conditions.

Similarly, a resident of Igbo-Etche, also in Port Harcourt metropolis, who pleaded anonymity, said her landlord recently raised the rent on her one-bedroom flat from N250,000 to N450,000. She added that she is considering relocating to a self-contained apartment when her current lease expires on May 31, 2026.

However, a landlord in Port Harcourt, Chima Ibemere, blamed the persistent rent hikes on the rising cost of building materials.

Industry players have also attributed the situation to weak regulation, arguing that poor enforcement has left the rental market largely unregulated.

They described the surge as abnormal, noting that landlords now fix rents arbitrarily without oversight.

Homeowners, however, have pushed back, citing inflation, naira devaluation, demolitions and rising insecurity as key drivers of the rent increases.

According to them, these factors have tightened housing supply, particularly following the clearance of structures in areas such as Oworonsoki and parts of Lekki, which reportedly wiped out hundreds of rental units and displaced residents into already overstretched housing markets.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP, the National President of the Estate, Rent and Commission Agents Association of Nigeria (ERCAAN), Godwin Alenkhe, described the current rent surge as abnormal.

He said everyone now fixes rent at whatever rate they choose and urged the government to invest in low-cost housing nationwide.

“Without proper oversight, prices will continue to spiral. Government must subsidise building materials and invest directly in low-cost housing; otherwise, affordability will keep collapsing.”

On the supply side, developers insist rising rents reflect ballooning construction costs rather than profiteering. A Lagos-based property developer, Dr Ezekiel Chikadibia, said inflation and currency depreciation have fundamentally altered project economics.

“The cost of constructing a one-bedroom flat rose from about N75 million in 2024 to over N100 million in 2025,” he said. “For developers, the only option is to pass those costs to tenants. As long as materials remain expensive and the naira stays weak, rent will keep rising.”

Also speaking to LEADERSHIP, a landlord in Amuwo-Odofin, Dr Segun Sowemimo, said the surge is being driven as much by market distortion as by real housing value.

“What we are seeing is artificial rent inflation, largely fuelled by agents chasing higher commissions,” he said. “Tenants are exploited because of desperation, while years of unchecked spending by cash-heavy politicians and cybercrime actors warped pricing. Now that money is drying up, rent defaults are rising sharply, and middle-income earners are the ones being squeezed out.”

The result, analysts say, is a widening affordability gap that tenants cannot bridge. With salaries largely flat and inflation above 30 per cent, households are forced into painful trade-offs.

In Lagos, a civil servant, Mr Tope Alonge Gabriel, said rent hikes have directly contributed to food insecurity.

“Rental prices have doubled, even tripled,” he said. “People are eating once a day just to pay rent. If you don’t close a deal immediately, the price changes. Housing has stopped being shelter; it’s now a survivalist test.”

Urban displacement is accelerating. Many Lagos residents priced out of inner-city neighbourhoods are relocating to Ogun State and other fringe areas, enduring longer commutes and higher transport costs. A civil servant who formerly lived in Surulere said his family relocated to Ibafo after a steep rent increase.

“My salary hasn’t changed, but rent keeps sprinting ahead,” he said. “I was priced out of Lagos and pushed to Ogun State. I now spend 4 hours a day in traffic. Housing costs are quietly destroying productivity and family life.”

Government intervention has struggled to keep pace with market forces. The Lagos State Government has acknowledged the severity of the crisis, particularly the burden of upfront one- and two-year rent payments.

Speaking on the issue, Chairman of the Association of Capital Markets Valuers (ACMV), Mr Chudi Ubosi, said he was unsure the government was ready to provide buffers to mitigate aggressive rent hikes, noting that current interventions focus primarily on transport and food subsidies, while housing remains a major concern.

He warned that if left unchecked, average Nigerians would be left to “the vagaries of the tough economy” and forced to be constantly creative to survive.

Economist Magnus Ijenwa said the rent squeeze is a symptom of deeper economic dysfunction.

“Nigeria’s rent crisis mirrors the country’s economic dysfunction,” he said. “When inflation is unanchored, and the currency collapses, housing becomes a speculative asset instead of a social necessity.”

The Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, said the current structure is unsustainable.

“The current structure is no longer tenable, noting that tenants cannot be expected to pay one or two years’ rent upfront in today’s economy,” he said. “Housing policy must prioritise affordability, not just market convenience.”

He added that the state plans to promote flexible payment systems, including monthly or quarterly rent, and enforce existing laws that cap agency fees at 10 per cent.

Similarly, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, said the objective is balance rather than rhetoric.

“A housing market that excludes workers and families is not functioning; it is failing,” she said. “Transparency and fairness are non-negotiable.”

Explaining the nationwide trend, the National President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Akintoye Adeoye, warned that rents would continue to rise unless structural and economic challenges are urgently addressed.

‎“Rent will continue to go up. And the reason is because of what you call urbanisation, that is, people moving from the hinterland to the cities. We are not building at the rate that people are coming into the cities,” he said.

He attributed the surge primarily to supply and demand pressures and worsening currency depreciation.

‎“So, what is at play is the forces of demand and supply. So, many people are looking for accommodation, but it’s becoming very scarce. And that pushes the price up.”

‎“The value of the currency, naira, has depreciated so much. So, the weight of the naira is going down.”

Adeoye urged Nigerians to view rent increases through the lens of currency devaluation.

‎“So, when we say rent is going up, we are looking at rent going up from the angle of the quantity of money, not from the angle of the value of cash… the value of his money has actually reduced.

He called on the Federal Government to create a more enabling environment for developers, warning that high land and approval costs are compounding the problem.

Economists and real estate experts say the crisis is being driven by macroeconomic strain, a housing deficit estimated at 17–20 million units, population growth of about 2.5 per cent annually, and the routine passing of rising costs to tenants.

CEO of Northcourt Real Estate, Ayo Ibaru, linked steady rent hikes to Nigeria’s housing shortfall and population growth. At the same time, CEO of Global PFI, MKO Balogun, cited inflation-driven spikes in building materials and limited access to home ownership.

Real estate expert Ganiyu Idris advised renters to prioritise proximity to workplaces to reduce commuting costs and improve quality of life, noting the broader impact of urban congestion and housing scarcity on productivity.

Tenants and social commentators have described the situation as an “economic nightmare,” with rents outpacing wages and pushing many to the city outskirts or into financial distress. Analysts have blamed weak rent control and poor enforcement, calling for caps on annual increases to protect tenants.