Report Tenancy Agreement Fees Higher Than 10 Percent, Lagos Government Tells Residents

The Lagos State Government has once more cautioned against the collection of tenancy agreement fees beyond the stipulated 10 per cent and has asked residents to report such abnormality to the authorities.

At the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, warned against violation of the state’s tenancy law, which caps tenancy agreement fees at 10 per cent.

“We have been overwhelmed by reports of the activities of these unscrupulous elements making life hard for Lagosians with agreements and commissions that are like asking for an arm and a leg,” Odunuga-Bakare said in a statement issued by the Lagos State Government.

“We are calling on members of the public not to keep silent but to report such agents and landlords to us, for the government cannot be everywhere, every time.”

She reiterated the restated the Lagos State Government’s stance against the imposition of excessive tenancy agreement fees, reminding all stakeholders within the state that the stipulated maximum remains 10% of the annual rent.

While the growing population in Lagos is a factor in the housing challenge, the special adviser said stakeholders and the government have met to address the situation.

“We have met with associations of real estate agents, and they have assured us that the people who are engaging in such practices are not registered agents that identify with their associations,” Odunuga-Bakare said, suggesting that these illegal activities are often perpetrated by unregistered individuals operating outside the purview of established professional bodies.”

Earlier, the Lagos Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, said the state is mulling monthly and quarterly rent options for residents of the state.

Akinderu-Fatai said many Lagos State residents are battling to pay annual rents. He believes monthly and quarterly rent payments would provide relief to them.