By Ishola Balogun, Ebun Sessou & Anozie Egole

We have mortgages set aside for people
Nine months after the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 and State Park and Gardens Law 2011 came into effect; there is growing skepticism about whether the state government is genuinely serious on implementing the law.

David Autolag

The law which was at first applauded and described as one of the finest people-oriented efforts in the state has made little or no impact on the lives of those who do not own properties while privileged property owners have continued to exploit the desperation of the property seekers to their advantage.

In spite of the law, tenants  are still made to pay two to three years advance rents; tenants are still being forcefully ejected; yet no one seems to be ready to bell the cat to seek redress in the law court.

Even the state that promulgated this law seems not to be doing enough to enforce the law. Quite a lot of people had thought that with the law coming into effect, the excesses of property owners would be nipped in the bud. But why is it so difficult for the government to enforce the law while landlords flout the law brazenly as desperate tenants remain helpless? Some of those we spoke with bared their minds on why government has failed to implement the law in view of the fact that the provision of shelter in an affordable way for a growing and urbanizing city-state like Lagos with a large population should be a major priority of the state government.

Those who think government has not shown clear direction of its readiness to implement the law hinged their arguments on the premise that other laws like the crash helmet law and Okada riders have also failed; that it died few weeks after government made the law.

Other reasons they gave was that government had not put in place measures to monitor compliance as well as apprehending and punishing offenders which could have served as deterrents to others; just as others cite the over bloated bureaucracy and the cumbersome nature of the process of seeking redress as part of the problems that make implementation of such laws unachievable in the state.

The law under Section 4 states, ‘it shall be unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from a sitting tenant, rent that is in excess of 6months (in case of a monthly tenant) or 1 year in the case of a yearly tenant just as it also provided that it shall be unlawful for a sitting tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of 1 year for a yearly tenant and six months for a monthly tenant. The law provides that any landlord that collects more than a year’s rent from new tenants would be liable to three months imprisonment with the option of a N100, 000 fines if convicted. Also, landlords, who impose and collect more than six months rents from their “sitting tenants” will, if convicted, go to jail for six months.

Furthermore, any landlord who forcibly or illegally ejects tenants from his abode will go to jail for six months when convicted, or pay a fine of N250, 000.

A landlord in Ketu area of Lagos told the reporter that government does not have the morality to enact law on tenancy because it compounded the housing problems in Lagos. “They drove people from Maroko, Ajah, Orile and other places without providing a place for them. If they build houses, it is meant for themselves and the few rich people. Tell me, how much did Fashola fix on the few houses he built? How many people can afford N2.5 to N3million for a 2-bedroom flat.”

He continued: “what is the cost of cement and building materials now, what is the cost of even getting a piece of land? So, government has not done its own part in making housing affordable for the masses. So, in my own view, the law cannot work.”

Thomas Odus, a tenant in Ikorodu, said, “I paid 18 months advance rent when I packed in last year shortly after the said law was signed into law. I also paid another N110,000 in the form of agreement fee and commission, N50,000 and N60,000 respectively. But will I go and report my new landlord to the police or what? I think government has not put in place mechanisms to get defaulters and prosecute them under the law. This is basically because they don’t have the will to do it. Look at the crash helmet law, it is not working because there is no will-power to implement it. Nobody can be said to be bigger than the law but our laws have no bite.”

Another victim of multiple advance payment is Junaid Raheem who lives in Ogudu. He stated that the euphoria which greeted the enactment of the law has died and the prospective tenants who initially saw a saving grace in the enactment have been disappointed and now left at the mercy of the landlords on advance payments and other fees.

The law, apart from seeking to curb the excesses of landlords who prey on their tenants also tends to reduce the antics of tenants, who fail to live up to their tenancy obligations. Alhaji Yussuf Adeoti, a property owner in Ijesha opined that the inability of the government to vigorously implement the law is a setback for the state, adding that the reason some landlords collect their rents yearly was due to the antics of some tenants. He maintained that it is not only about multi-year payment, unreasonable damage fee, agreement or lawyer’s fee or other exploitative fees but also about landlord/tenant relationship which provides that a tenant cannot move out of a house with several months of unpaid rent in arrears.

Adeoti said: “Some tenants will deliberately refuse to pay their rents and ask you to go to court; believing that giving the court process and administration of justice in Nigeria, it takes time. The feeling is that the court will give them time to pay up while some of them will bolt away with the money. I think this is one good aspect of the law which threatens to deal with tenants who fail to pay up their rents before moving out.”

He advised that government should put in place aggressive policy on building affordable houses, while also creating opportunities for more and more people to own houses through loans and mortgages.

Others who share their opinions on why government has failed to enforce the law are as follows:

Govt should be seen as a competitor in housing programmes — Engr Olukayode Shatunsi,Property agent

I believe that government should have built affordable housing estates that will alleviate the poverty level and reduce the unnecessary desperation of the demand for accommodation in the state. By doing this, the house rent will be cut down.   Although, the law is a good one, the way it is being handled is not good enough. I think, government should do better by encouraging low cost housing scheme.

Again, the tenancy law introduced by the state government is baseless. There is no bite at all as some landlords are still collecting three years rent even after the law was promulgated. Certain things should have been in place to make the law effective. Secondly, government should come as competitor with property owners. In this view, it will be easy for people to make a choice.

Charles Ego

There is no law enforcement agency or task force that enforces or sees to the implementation of the law.  Government should look into the general welfare of its people. It is a shame that people are losing their jobs and more graduates are produced every year.

The excuse some landlords are giving is that government didn’t provide any infrastructure and therefore, it is impossible to enforce the law.

Part of this enabling environment is making provisions for landed properties for people to buy and open up some areas that are available for people to build their personal houses. This will encourage landlords to bring down their house rents and conform with the tenancy law.  Government should give loan, construct road network drainage system, potable water, provide electricity to rural areas and reduce the burden on urban areas.

Govt must invest in housing estates — Monday Akporuno, landlord

In the United Kingdom, people rent apartment and pay monthly or weekly and that is working because of the level of development involved in that. But, I think, it is myopic on the part of the Lagos State House of Assembly to have rolled out such law because the number of habitable houses built by individuals are lesser than the number of people looking for accommodation. So, passing a law forcing people to collect a lesser rent or number of months of advance payment will not work because that is where competition comes in. The landlord probably got a loan from bank to complete the building of his house to assist in reducing the number of people who don’t have habitable accommodation and hoping to pay up the interest.  Under that circumstance, I don’t see the possibility of Lagosians getting accommodation with lesser rent.

I think, the law will not work. One of the disadvantages is that the investors will be dragged to some other things instead of the real estate.  Another thing is that the demand is higher than the supply. And because of that, a landlord can decide not to give out his house on rent. If government wants the law to work, then, it must be ready to build affordable housing estates for the people. It must engage in massive investment in real estate so that Lagosians can have options.

The law has brought untold hardship to tenants–  Tenant

Tenancy law in Lagos State is working in some areas and weak in other areas.  What can be done to make it work is to enforce it. The new trend by the landlords is to increase the house rent by 100 per cent in lieu of what the law forbids them to take. You see a situation where a rent goes for N200,000.00 per year and because the landlord has been forced to collect one year rent, he will therefore increase his rent to N400,000.00 per year. So, the policy hasn’t changed anything. Rather, it has posed untold hardship on the tenants.

And in a situation where there is no employment and companies are laying off their workers, it will be difficult to see the implementation of the law.  In this light, I think the present administration should invest in quality and affordable housing for its people.

It will only work when government is ready to make it work — Seun Iyanda, tenant

I don’t think the tenancy law is working for obvious reasons. For instance, tenants that are desperate to get accommodation due to one reason or the other still find themselves paying two years rent while some people are paying one and half years. But the fact that the government has put a law in place is enough to caution the landlords and the agents.  In fact, they should be guided.   Apart from tenants being very desperate to get accommodation, they should also know and assert their rights. In fact, many people don’t know that there is such law.

But I agree that government should enforce the law. It is one thing to put a policy in place and another thing to make sure that policy works. In this part of the world, there are many laws that are  there in the book and they are not manifesting. So, to make it work, government should be responsible to the people. So, it will work when the government is ready to make it work.

There should be a proper statistics of the commercial buildings so that the rent can be controlled. Again, government is not providing affordable accommodation for its people. It also means that government is enacting  a policy that it cannot even implement when it is the responsibility of government to provide affordable accommodation for its people.

Govt killed the law — Victor Adam, agent

The law is still effective in some places but there are conditions attached to it. No government should expect a landlord who built his house with a loan from bank and is expected to pay interest to collect one year rent from his tenants. For the fact that there is an agreement with the bank to pay at a stipulated time, there is no how he will be able to abide by the law. Rather, what we expect from government is to invest in low housing estates. In developed countries, government provides housing for its citizens on affordable amount, and that is why it is possible for them to be on monthly payment plan. For me, I believe, there is no government in Nigeria.

The law has posed untold hardship on the citizens because instead of collecting a specific amount of money, the landlords would prefer to increase their rents in order to be able to collect a year rent. For instance, an apartment that is supposed to be rented out at the rate of N250,000.00 will be given out at N300,000.00 because of the law. Another issue is that due to the law, agents have been forced to demand for two years agreement and commission charges. The law affects the tenants negatively in the sense that they have to pay more in order to get an accommodation. The level of unemployment is also not helping matters as more people are in dire need of accommodation in Lagos state.

Govt has not set good example — Abiodun Adeosun, tenant

I believe the law is not working because there are so many landlords who are not conforming to the rules and regulation. But, the fact is that government of the country should also ensure that it provides conducive and affordable accommodation for its citizens. So, if the government cannot set a good example, there is no reason forcing anybody to conform with their laws. Another aspect is the issue of  the  so called land owners “Omo Onile”. The governments of the country have failed to address the issue of omo onile and agberos.

It will not work — Adams Enitan

I collect my house rent depending on the condition of my tenant. I sometimes put myself in the shoes of the tenant especially if he has difficulty of paying for a year or two in advance. I can allow him/her to pay for six months. So, there is no rule to it. I know things are very difficult in this country. I spent sixteen years in the United States of America.

There are some certain things government should take cognizance of before they make laws and not just make laws for the sake of making them. Like in Europe, houses are owned by government, so, they can instruct the agencies who are in charge of leasing the houses to people that this is the number of months or weeks you will be collecting from tenants and not here where an individual after using his/her hard earned income to erect a structure, you will come and tell the person how to collect his rents, it is not possible!

In some other parts of the state like Lekki, Victoria Island, Ajah, some landlords do collect two or more years of advance payment especially when the house has not been completed in order to use the money to complete it. But if the house has been completed and you want to rent it, he/she can collect for a year or six monts depending on the landlord. As we all know, most landlords here are pensioners who depend on their pensions to carry on with some of their projects and now that the pension is not forth-coming, where do we expect them to raise the money to complete and maintain the structure?

Talking about the issue of some agents influencing house rents, I do not believe that. For instance, I have agents but if you want to pay for house rents, you pay to me directly then I will go and settle with the agents. You don’t pay to agents. Why I like using agents is that some tenants are very wicked. There is nothing you can do for them that they will appreciate. I have a tenant here who almost fought me some time ago just because there was no light to pump the water and I forgot to do that with my generating set. He told me that it is my duty to be pumping water for them. What I did was to disconnect that pump so that they can now be pumping it for themselves.

Government  is not serious about implementing the law—David Autolag

This country is lawless. The government should make better laws for the good of the country, not making laws that will favour the elites in the country. We have security challenges in the country and so laws should be made on how to control it and not telling an individual how to run his affairs.

If the landlord asks you to pay for more than a year, you will have no option than to pay that. If you don’t want to pay, you pack out and leave the house for the owner. So, whether they make such laws or not, it doesn’t matter. They should try as much as possible to make good laws. The educational sector is deteriorating by the day and something should be done towards that sector and not telling landlords how to collect their rents.

Take a look at some landlords who are pensioners, now that the pension is not forth-coming, they only depend on the rents for their survival. If you go to some secondary schools, they do not have a conducive atmosphere for learning and we are here talking about house rents. In some government housing estates, houses are very costly, how do they want individual house owners to reduce their rents while the government have not reduced theirs?

They’ve right of ownership—Charles Ego

For me, it is nobody’s business. Whether to collect for a year or more is not anybody’s business. My concern is to appeal to my landlord and reach an agreement that will suit me. And If I don’t like the conditions, I will go look for another accommodation elsewhere. Simple. It is not a do or die affair.

Even some government housing estates which are supposed to be cheaper are more expensive and unaffordable; so, why is the government telling landlords what to do and how to run their affairs? That is why they cannot enforce the law.

If the government wants to make things cheaper for people, they should have built many housing estates all over Lagos and at cheaper prices. With that, people can be able to afford nice houses. If they do that, the landlords will have no option than to abide by the law. So, I’ll advise the government to build several housing estates at very cheap prices or better still, make provision for loans so that people can have houses of their own.