Lagos State is set to introduce a game-changing policy that will make renting a home more affordable and accessible for millions of residents.
The state’s Special Adviser on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, announced that the monthly rental scheme will be rolled out before the end of 2024 or early next year.
She made the revelation at a press briefing of the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority in Ikeja, Lagos.
She said, “We want to align with the global best practices, where rents are paid monthly. We are hopeful that by the end of the year, or by early next year, we will implement the monthly rental policy. The rent will also be based on the income level of the tenants.
“The good thing is that we will pilot the scheme in the public sector first, since we can verify how much everyone is earning. Once we see that it works in the public sector, we will extend it to the private sector.”
Odunuga-Bakare assured that the N5bn earmarked for the monthly rental scheme was still intact and untouched.
She explained that the delay in launching the scheme was due to the need to fine-tune some details.
She said, “The previous administration that initiated the monthly rental scheme was winding down when the scheme was to be introduced. Now, we have a new administration and the governor wants the scheme to take off by the end of this year or early next year.”
The monthly rental scheme was first proposed by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in 2021. He said the current rental model, where people pay yearly rent in advance to landlords, was outdated and unfair, especially in a city where housing demand and prices were high.
Sanwo-Olu championed monthly rent policy The governor championed the monthly rent policy at the 10th meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development held in Lagos.
He urged policymakers to consider his proposal and create a regulatory framework that would facilitate the transition to a new rental system.
He said Lagos was already working on monthly rent arrangements to cater for residents who were not interested in the state’s homeownership scheme.
He said, “In Lagos, we have a very robust rent-to-own programme of five per cent down payment and six per cent simple interest rate payable over 10 years. We are also working on another product, which is a pure rental system, where residents will pay monthly.”
The former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, supported Sanwo-Olu’s position, saying that the yearly rental system had created inequality and unaffordability in the housing market for low-income earners.
Lagos is poised to transform its housing sector with the monthly rent policy, which could make renting a home more convenient and cost-effective for millions of residents.