High rent: FCT residents cry out, seek heavy tax on unoccupied houses

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed frustration over what they described as “skyrocketing house rent” in the territory. The residents, who expressed their frustration in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, added that the development has impoverished many in the FCT. The residents complained […]

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed frustration over what they described as “skyrocketing house rent” in the territory.

The residents, who expressed their frustration in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, added that the development has impoverished many in the FCT.

The residents complained that a self-contained apartment is, at the moment, as high as N1 million, while a one-bedroom flat ranges from N2 million to N2.5 million, depending on location.

They also complained that two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats now go for N2.5 million and N3 million respectively, and above.

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The exorbitant rent, according to them, has impoverished many civil servants and other residents, whose rents are far above their annual incomes.

The residents said the development had equally forced many of them to seek alternative accommodation outside the city, with negative consequences on transportation and productivity.

They blamed the arbitrary rent increase on the lack of government regulation in the housing sector, adding that unoccupied houses also contributed to the housing deficit in the FCT.

A civil servant, Mr Michael Dauda, who described the development as “worrisome”, added that landlords were increasing rent without considering tenants’ financial ability to pay.

“I live in a two-bedroom flat in Gwarimpa at N1.2 million a year when the landlord suddenly hiked the price to N2 million.

“When I asked why, he simply said, ‘prices of things have gone up’, as if he just built the house,” he said.

Dauda called on the government to regulate rent in the FCT and other parts of the country to protect citizens from exploitation by landlords.

Another civil servant, Mr Musa Ango, told NAN that he opted to live in Suleja, Niger State, where rent is a bit low, but grapples with transportation and low productivity due to distance and fatigue.

“To get to work on time, I will have to leave my house around 5:30am and when I close, I spend close to two hours on the way before reaching home.

“This is stressful, and it is affecting my productivity.

“It is even more painful when I see so many unoccupied houses in Abuja,” he said.

Ango called on the federal government and the FCT Administration to enact laws that will allow the imposition of high taxes on unoccupied houses.

This, according to him, will force house owners to rent out their unoccupied houses. (NAN)