The Lagos State Deputy Governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has promised to end the controversial practice of landlords demanding two or three years’ rent in advance from tenants, declaring that his administration, if elected, will enforce the one-year rent payment limit to protect residents from the growing burden of housing costs.
Hamzat said that the government would move beyond existing legal provisions to ensure strict compliance, warning that tenants should no longer be compelled to pay several years’ rent upfront when their salaries and other sources of income are received monthly.
He made the pledge on Sunday during a governorship debate organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium in Lagos, where he outlined plans to tackle housing affordability, regulate estate agents and make property development more accessible to low-income residents.
The deputy governor described enforcement of the one-year rent provision as the next critical step in the state’s efforts to sanitise the property market, stressing that the government would no longer be satisfied with merely having laws on paper without ensuring that landlords and estate agents obeyed them.
“So the next chapter for Lagos is to enforce, to make sure. So people should not be asked two years, three years ahead because nobody gets salary three years ahead,” Hamzat said.
His pledge comes amid persistent complaints by Lagos residents over landlords’ demands for multiple years’ rent in advance, a practice that has placed enormous financial pressure on tenants, particularly salary earners, young professionals and low-income households struggling to cope with rising living costs.
Although Section 4 of the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 prohibits landlords and their agents from demanding more than one year’s rent in advance from new tenants, violations have continued to feature prominently in the state’s rental market.
The law also places restrictions on advance rent demands from existing tenants, depending on the nature of their tenancy.
Hamzat said the challenge before the government was to ensure that the provisions were effectively enforced, adding that the administration would require greater cooperation from residents to identify landlords and agents violating the regulations.
He disclosed that real estate agents were required to register with the state and have their details captured in an official database, a measure designed to improve accountability and make it easier for the authorities to monitor activities in the property sector.
The governorship candidate urged residents to take advantage of the Lagos State Real Estate Registration Agency’s online platform to report violations, saying public feedback would be crucial to identifying offenders and strengthening enforcement.
He explained that government could not effectively monitor every transaction in the property market without information from tenants and other residents who experience abuses firsthand.
“So our appeal to the citizens is in terms of communication, to make sure that people use that site, because that is the only way we can track. Because when these things happen, government must also have the feedback,” he said.
Beyond the rent payment controversy, Hamzat said his housing agenda would focus on increasing the supply of affordable homes, completing ongoing housing projects and removing administrative bottlenecks that make property acquisition and development expensive.
He identified delays in obtaining land regularisation and title documents as some of the factors contributing to the high cost of housing, explaining that prolonged processing periods could increase developers’ expenses and ultimately push up property prices.
According to him, the state has completed the automation of its land documentation process to enable residents to submit applications online and reduce the delays associated with obtaining property titles.
He said the government would work towards making the process faster and more efficient, arguing that a more responsive land administration system would help reduce the cost of doing business in the real estate sector.
Hamzat also called for a stronger partnership between the government and private property developers to address the widening gap between housing supply and the purchasing power of ordinary Lagos residents.
He argued that housing development should not be concentrated in affluent neighbourhoods, where luxury properties are often beyond the reach of the majority, while communities inhabited by low-income earners continue to struggle with inadequate housing.
Using Ikoyi and Victoria Island as examples of high-income locations, he challenged private developers to extend their investments to less affluent communities, insisting that the state’s housing strategy must accommodate both wealthy residents and ordinary workers.
“As you develop a property, say in Ikoyi or VI, can you develop another one in Egodo? So those are part of the discussions that we will have so that as we are building for the rich, we’re also building for the poor, apart from what the government is doing to make sure that people actually have housing,” he said.
The APC governorship candidate maintained that the government could not rely solely on public housing projects to bridge the state’s housing deficit, stressing the need to mobilise private sector investment towards developments that cater to different income groups.
He further linked his proposed housing interventions to the ‘Everyday Dignity’ component of his manifesto, which he said was designed to prevent housing costs from reducing residents to a condition where meeting basic accommodation needs becomes a struggle.
Hamzat said the government recognised that Lagos operated a capitalist economy and would therefore need to engage landlords and other private property owners rather than approach the issue as a confrontation between government and investors.
“If you look at my manifesto, the E part is Everyday Dignity. What it says is people should not pay rent that demystifies their dignity. And what that means is we must work with landlords. We understand that we run a capitalist economy,” he said.
He added that cooperation with property owners would be important in achieving a sustainable rental system that protects tenants while recognising the legitimate interests of landlords.