Experts in the built environment have advocated a direct overhaul of the rent system in the country. The stakeholders who are not comfortable with the system in operation at the moment argued that the housing deficits will not be done with if the modus operandi is not done away with.
Cornelius Onyekamuo, a real estate operator from South Africa, while discussing the rent system in Nigeria tried to compare it with what obtains in South Africa and other African nations. He said that the system in the country is an indication that government is not interested in remedying the housing deficit scourge.
According to him,”If government had started with the system introduced during the Festival of Arts and Culture Programme of 1977, the problems would not have degenerated to the level we have it today. My fear is that if nothing is done at the moment, the present condition will be a child’s play compared to what we should see in the nearest future”.
In similar vein, Mr Tunde Balogun, real estate manager, noted that complexities and absence of a flexible rent payment system makes affordable housing to become an illusion for many low and middle income earners in Nigeria.
Balogun, the Chief Executive Officer, Rentsmallsmall Ltd., Lagos, made this known at a media briefing in Lagos recently. He said that the issue had made vacancy rate in the residential and commercial markets to jump up. He said that most buildings being touted as affordable were beyond the reach of an average Nigerian based on the present payment structure.
Balogun recalled that the Federal Housing Authority Mortgage Bank (FHAMB) had recently disclosed that the Lagos property market was in a crisis. This, according to the bank, was due to the default rate on rented properties, which had risen to 71 per cent and vacancy rate hitting 74 per cent in prime property locations.
Balogun said that to address the property market crisis, his outfit “offers a flexible rent initiative for low and average income earners to make it possible for them to seamlessly find a new home within their budgets.
“Our model is a departure from the annual or two years rent payments being demanded by landlords, as it allows for monthly, quarterly and biannual rent payment.”
According to him, the platform ensures that property owners get screened and verified tenants, which guarantees that the tenants are eligible enough to pay future rents diligently.