To revamp Nigeria’s real estate sector, the Senate has accepted and processing a bill that would see landlords only demand and accept payment of advance rent from tenants of residential and office buildings and spaces within three months unlike the one-year, which had since been widely adopted in the country.
Sponsoring the bill and presenting it before the Senate, lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Smart Adeyemi expressed opinion that should it be passed into law, tenants in the real estate sector would now only be able to make advance payment of three months’ rent, with subsequent monthly payment.
His words: “We discovered that landlords are compelling tenants to make one-year and two-year advance rent payments before they would give them keys to their apartments.
“It may not be an issue to quite a number of people but to many others, it is a great pain for them. Most Nigerians need the protection of the law to be able to meet their basic needs after paying rent.
“Many landlords did not secure loans to build their houses; they are products of free money they acquire from the system. Yet, they make life difficult for poor Nigerians who do not have such privilege of making ill-gotten money from the system and put up structures.
“The buildings are constructed in such a manner that an average Nigerian would not be able to afford it. Many people are involved in corrupt practices to get their rents paid, while the ladies took to prostitution.
“The law we are proposing stipulates a maximum advance rent payment of three months. After the expiration of the three months rent, the tenants are expected to pay monthly.
“There are many tenants whose salaries are competing with their rents because they live in cities like Abuja. The law will prevent the poor workers from any form of oppression.”
BizWatch Nigeria understands that this development emerged a little over a month after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, allocated N5 billion to float the state’s monthly tenancy scheme in January 2022.
