More tenants are slipping into homelessness as the rent crisis in the country worsens across cities, dislocating and pushing tenants to the fringes.
Nigeria is currently grappling with a housing deficit estimated at 28 million units, even though it has one of the highest tenancy levels in Africa, especially in its major cities.
Renters are finding their disposable income disproportionately squeezed compared to their homeowner peers, resulting in a loss of confidence in getting on the property ladder and in the housing market more generally.
LEADERSHIP checks show that the skyrocketing cost of rent is worsening and eating deep into the income of renters’ take-home pay, even as homeowners face additional costs such as high renovation costs, service charge, utility bills and certain maintenance bills which is factored into the rental bills of new property owners.
House rent in the country is on the rise and its, driven by a combination of factors such as high demand, low supply, inflationary pressures, and high interest rates, which caused the real estate sector to close the first half of 2025 with a deepening housing deficit.
The rise in housing deficit has continued to displace homeownership ambitions, which dominate transactions in many cities, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Onitsha, Kaduna, and Kano.
LEADERSHIP findings show that, rent increases are no longer peculiar to the big cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt where expanding population and fast-paced urbanisation have combined with inflation and interest rate to increase rents by well over 100 percent in some cases.
In Lagos, for instance, many residents living in places like Surulere, Gbagada, Ilupeju, Yaba, and others classified as middle-class settlements are now relocating to suburbs such as Idimu, Meiran, Ejigbo, Abulegba, Egbeda, Ojodu Berger, etc, on account of rising rental costs.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP in a media chat, a civil servant, Uche Anyim who lives in Kubwa area of Abuja said: “I was living in Lokogoma before, where rent for a two-bedroom flat was between N1 million and N1.2 million per annum. But, like a flash, my landlord increased the rent to N2 million per annum, forcing me to move to Zuba where I paid N700,000 for a two-bedroom flat.”
Anyim noted, however, that relocating to the suburb comes at a price as, according to him, there are more extended periods and higher costs of commuting to work daily, explaining that whether one is driving one’s car or going by public transport, the costs are high, up to N10,000 and N4,000, respectively.
In Lagos, house rent is said to have gone up by 150 percent, and for a civil service state like that, it is an overkill as majority of the residents cannot afford what the landlords are asking for. The residents are therefore appealing to the state government for help.
A recent survey by a reputable media organisation quotes a tenant, Dipo Salau as saying, “I was paying N350,000 annually for my apartment in Alimosho area; just recently, I received a call from my landlord, telling me I now have to pay N900,000.”
“The residents want the state government to come up with a formal tenancy law that stipulates notice periods, caps on rent increases, mandatory agreements, and a mediation framework to resolve disputes, contending that, without such legal backing, tenants will continue to be vulnerable.”
In Ogun State, the capital city of Abeokuta, rent increases push people, particularly the low-income earners, to the outskirts. House rent has become so high that many civil servants are forced to relocate their families out of Awka, some to their villages.
In that city, a 3-bedroom flat that used to rent for N250,000 per annum now attracts over N800,000. Residents attribute this to a number of factors, including government’s lack of interest in housing development to meet growing demand; rising construction costs, inflation, and unwholesome activities of estate agents.
