Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, the Special Advisor on Housing to the Lagos State Governor, has revealed that the state’s monthly rental program will put into effect either early in 2025 or before the end of 2024.
She said this at the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s press conference held recently in Ikeja, Lagos.
“We all see what is being done in other climes—monthly rent collections,” she remarked. We therefore hope to be able to put the monthly leasing policy into effect before the year ends or even early in the next one. Additionally, the rent would be assessed based on the income of the tenants.
An advantage of this approach is that it may be tested first in the public sector, where we can determine the salaries of those involved. If successful, it can then be implemented in the private sector.
Odunuga-Bakare reaffirmed that the N5 billion put aside for the monthly rental program remained untouchable.
She continued by saying that the Lagos State Government was still attempting to perfect something because of the scheme’s slow start-up.
“When the scheme was to be introduced, the administration that had started the monthly rental scheme was coming to an end,” she said. The governor wants the plan to go into action by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, and we currently have a new administration.
Remember how the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated in 2021 that the present rental model—in which tenants pay annual rent in advance to property owners—has grown insufficient to deal with the realities of the housing market today, particularly in urban areas where demand for real estate is strong and prices are high.
The governor promoted a monthly renting system, claiming that it would be within the means of low- and middle-class individuals who are burdened by the annual rent requirement.
The suggestion was given by Sanwo-Olu during the National Council on Lands, Housing, and Urban Development’s tenth meeting, which was recently held in Lagos.
He pleaded with legislators to take the recommendation under consideration and to start drafting regulations that would facilitate the switch to a new leasing scheme.
According to the governor, Lagos is already figuring out monthly rental arrangements for those who aren’t big fans of the state’s homeownership program.
“We have a very strong rent-to-own program in Lagos, with a 5% down payment and a 6% simple interest rate that is payable over ten years,” he stated. We are developing a different product that will only be rented out to tenants on a monthly basis.
Sanwo-Olu’s position was supported by Babatunde Fashola, the former Minister of Works and Housing, who emphasized that the annual rental system had increased affordability gaps for low-income workers and caused disparity in the housing supply.