Lagosian To Start Paying House Rent Monthly — Sanwo-Olu

Nigeria is ripe for an inclusive rental system that will reduce the housing burden on work­ing families.

This position was can­vassed by Lagos State Gover­nor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the just-concluded 10th meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development held in Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu said the current rental model in which people remit yearly rent in advance to property owners had become inadequate to address contem­porary realities in the hous­ing sector, especially in cities where demand for properties is high and expensive.

The Governor advocated for the monthly rental system, which, he said, would be afford­able to low- and middle-income earners who are pressured by yearly rent obligations.

Minister for Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fas­hola corroborated the Lagos Governor’s position in his submission, stressing that the yearly rental system had created inequality in hous­ing supply and widened the affordability gap for low-in­come earners.

The audience at the forum held in Ikeja with the theme: “Housing Development as a Catalyst for Job Creation, So­cial Inclusion and Economic Development,” comprised Commissioners for Hous­ing and Urban Development across 36 States, Permanent Secretaries in the States’ Hous­ing ministries, lawmakers on Housing Committees, survey­ors, town planners, builders and other stakeholders in the built industry.