The Special Advisor on Housing to the Lagos State Governor, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, has revealed that the state’s monthly rental program will be put into effect either early in 2025 or before the end of 2024.
The PUNCH recorded that, she said this during the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s news conference held recently in Ikeja, Lagos.
“We all see what is being done in other climes monthly rent collections, we thus hope to be able to put the monthly leasing policy into effect before the year ends or perhaps early in the next one. Additionally, the rent would be assessed based on the income of the renters.
“One advantage of this approach is that it may be tested first in the public sector, where we can determine average salaries. If successful, it can then be implemented in the private sector,” she said.
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 tardy 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 now have a new government.
Recall that in 2021, The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, declared that the existing rental model which requires tenants to pay annual rent in advance to property owners had grown insufficient to meet the needs of the modern housing market, particularly in urban areas where there is a high and growing demand for real estate.
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, we are developing a different product that will only be rented out to tenants on a monthly basis,” he stated.
Sanwo-Olu’s viewpoint 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 availability of housing.
