By Yinka Kolawole

Property located in highbrow areas and those occupied by some commercial outfits are exempted from the operations of the recently enacted Lagos tenancy law.

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, gave reasons for this at a business luncheon recently organised by the Lagos chapter of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV) in Ikeja.

According to him, government deliberately exempted certain class of property, especially those occupied by banks and other commercial outfits from the tenancy law, as well as those in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki, Apapa and Ikeja GRA, because it is believed that those living in such areas have higher bargaining power than those in other areas of the state.

He said the law was made to safeguard the interests of both the tenants and landlords in the state, and is not rent control legislation, adding that government is open to amending appropriate areas of the law where such can impact positively on the larger society. He noted that government will soon issue an executive order to address conflicting areas like fixed term lease, renting of warehouses and other commercial properties in the law.

The commissioner said that the tenancy law was government’s way of striking a balance between the interests of the landlords and tenants in the state, noting that abound of landlords suffering in the hands of tenants, who exploit the loopholes in the existing laws to live in a house without paying for it.

“Government is duty bound to protect the life and property of every citizen because we cannot encourage a situation where people take laws into their hands. I quarrel with that line of thinking that seems to suggest that we are not matured for that kind of legislation. It is like saying the government should create an ideal situation before the citizenry starts abiding by certain standards of behaviour. Even in advanced countries, they don’t get it right at first before they enact a law.

“The law protects the landlord against troublesome, sit-tight tenants. It also protests the tenant from unreasonable demands of some landlords. “The essence of the law is to ensure that all citizens are protected by the state,” he said.

Ipaye cited a case where a tenant stayed in a particular house for 15 years without paying to his landlord, exploiting  the lapses in the judicial system due to stay of execution which deprived the landlord the use of his property. He argued that when a prospective tenant is seeking accommodation and he is made to pay advance rent, he would squeeze his family and acquaintances to raise the initial sum and, henceforth, may not be able to pay leading to altercation between the parties.

“If you can build a house with N50 million, is it the two years rent that will enable you offset the cost of your building? People are ready to pay the initial sum and then go to court afterwards; this enables tenants stay on a property though they are in default because they exploit the various loopholes in law.”

The commissioner emphasized that the law is not about rent control. “It must be noted that the law is not rent control legislation. The law however controls indiscriminate rent increase. A sitting tenant may apply to the court for an order declaring that the increase in rent payable under his tenancy agreement is unreasonable.

“However, in coming to a determination as to what is reasonable, the court will consider, among other things, the general level of rent for comparable premises in the locality.

The provision, therefore, protects the interest of both the landlord and the tenant. This is the aspect of the law that has arguably generated the most commentary. To start with, it must be made clear that the law is not rent control legislation.

Unlike its predecessors, it does not stipulate what should be the rent to respect of transaction. That is subject to the agreement of the parties. What the law does is to prohibit the demand of more than six months rents from monthly tenant and one year rent from a sitting yearly tenant. In respect of new tenancy, one-year rent is the maximum allowed to be demanded or received under the law,” he stated.