Lagos Govt Reveals When Monthly Rental Policy Will Be Fully Implemented
Governo Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s led government of Lagos State has announced that the state’s monthly rental policy will be implemented by the end of 2024 or at the beginning of next year.
Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, confirmed this at a press conference held by the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority in Ikeja, Lagos, on Sunday.
She said, “We all see what is being done in other climes, rents are collected monthly. Hence, we are looking and hoping that before the end of the year, or by early next year, we will be able to implement the policy of monthly rental. Also, the rental would be charged according to tenants’ earnings.
“The good part about it is that we would be test-running it first within the public sector since we can ascertain how much everybody is earning, and once we see that it works in the public sector, we can now push it out to the private sector.”
Odunuga-Bakare emphasized that the N5bn designated for the monthly rental scheme remains reserved and unutilized.
She further pointed out that the delayed implementation of the scheme indicates that the Lagos State Government is continuously striving to refine various aspects of it.
She added: “The last administration that initiated the monthly rental scheme was coming to an end when the scheme was to be introduced. Now, we have a new administration and the governor wants the scheme to come into effect by the end of this year or early next year.”
It could be recalled that in 2021, Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State highlighted the inadequacy of the current yearly rental model, emphasizing the need for a shift to a monthly rental system.
This change, according to the governor, would offer a more affordable option for low- and middle-income earners facing challenges with yearly rent payments. During the 10th meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing, and Urban Development in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu proposed this new approach and called for the development of a regulatory framework to support the transition.
He also mentioned that Lagos is in the process of devising monthly rent structures to cater to residents who are not interested in the state’s homeownership program.
He said, “In Lagos, we operate a very robust rent-to-own program of five percent down payment and six percent simple interest rate payable over 10 years. We are working on another product, which is a purely rental system, where residents will pay monthly.”
The then Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, corroborated Sanwo-Olu’s position, stressing that the yearly rental system had created inequality in housing supply and widened the affordability gap for low-income earners. (edited)
