By JKNewsMedia
TENANTS GRAPPLING with high living costs in Lagos have received a lifeline as the State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reinforced a planned crackdown on illegal tenancy charges, urging residents to report landlords or agents demanding more than the legal limit.
At the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, condemned the widespread practice of flouting the Lagos State Tenancy Law.
She reiterated that the law sets a firm cap of 10 percent on tenancy agreement fees. Anything above this threshold, she said, was not only illegal but also exploitative.
“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,” she declared.
Odunuga-Bakare called on tenants to take a stand-by reporting such infractions. “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.”
Reaffirming the government’s resolve, she stated that stakeholders must respect the law, noting the stipulated 10 per cent fee remains the maximum permissible.
Her statement highlighted the challenges posed by a rapidly growing population, which has placed further strain on Lagos’s housing supply.
In response, the state government has been engaging stakeholders in a bid to sanitise the housing market.
According to Odunuga-Bakare, consultations with registered real estate bodies revealed that the worst offenders were often not recognised professionals but unregistered individuals acting outside the purview of any regulatory association.
“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,” she explained.
Also addressing the press, Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, hinted at a broader shift in rent policy. Acknowledging the pressure on residents to meet annual rent obligations, he said the state is considering a transition to monthly and quarterly rent payment options to ease the financial burden.
The Commissioners noted that the proposal could mark a significant step in reforming Lagos’s rental market, potentially bringing relief to thousands of tenants forced to endure the strain of large, upfront annual rent payments.
Landlords, as we don’t have power to warn, are begging Lagos State Government to make processing of land documents easier for everyone and help talk to those producing and selling building materials to ” fara bale”…..They should also give us early 50s ,60s and 70s Lagos where we drank pipe borne water from Iju Water Works at Agege, Mushin, Shomolu, Yaba ,Surulere upto Igbosere, Racecourse, Lewis Street and didn’t buy water for construction, drinking, washing etc.
Let them fix inner roads that lead to construction sites that their Building Regulators struggle to pass to “PASTE STOP WORK”
Your points are quite valid sir. I pray this touches their conscience to do the needful when they read your feedback.