‘How Lagos one-year rent policy can work’
What ERCAAN is all about?ERCAN means Estate Rent Commission Agent Association of Nigeria. It is an association charged with the responsibility of regulating the activities of estate agents in Nigeria. It is duly registered and recognized by the federal and state governments. ERCAAN is to estate agents what the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and […]
What ERCAAN is all about?
ERCAN means Estate Rent Commission Agent Association of Nigeria. It is an association charged with the responsibility of regulating the activities of estate agents in Nigeria. It is duly registered and recognized by the federal and state governments.
ERCAAN is to estate agents what the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NESV) is to estate surveyors and valuers. Every practising estate agent in Nigeria is expected to be a member of this association which was formed to checkmate and stem the dubious activities of estate agents. It has also been recognized by Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Regulatory Authority, (LASRETRAD) a new state body charged with the responsibilities to regulate practice of estate agents in Lagos.
Do you support the Lagos State government’s one-year rent policy?
The Lagos State one-year rent policy is very much achievable. The policy is a already achieving its goal because landlords now know that they cannot collect more than one-year rent in Lagos State. We the estate agents have taken our time to educate the landlords on the new policy. Those of them that insisted on two-year rent collection initially have now come to realize that it pays more to collect one-year rent than to allow their houses to be locked up without tenants for months or even years.
They have no option than to succumb to the policy of government which is good for them because you cannot collect all the money you used in building your house at a time. It’s a gradual process and you recoup your investment. The policy will be gradually popularized; it is question of time.
Lagos tenants are happy with the policy; we estate agents are also happy and comfortable with it. So I advise the landlords to follow suit and corporate.
How workable is this policy and what are the benefits?
In this case, there is more work to be done by the government in order to properly implement this policy and make it workable. First, government should integrate all agents in Lagos by working hand in hand with ERCAAN as grassroots channel to property owners in dissemination of information.
In terms of mass housing provision, government needs to concentrate its attention on the provision of mass housing for its citizenry. This will force the Lagos shylock landlords to comply with the one-year rent policy. If income earners are accommodated by government, there is every tendency that Lagos landlords will beg people to become their tenants in their houses. This is true because if they don’t beg them, their houses will be locked up with no tenants to live in and maintain them.
Again, let government help the landlords and reduce charges on soil test, cost of processing of CofO, land use charges, tax; remove Omoniles [so called original land owners], construct roads and drainages so that the cost of building will not be too high. I’m quite sure that once these charges are reduced, the landlords will be willing to collect even six months and low rents from their tenants.
So in our association, we advise landlords to collect one-year rent as stipulated by the government policy because it is good for them, the tenants and even us the estate agents. Let me use this forum to tell the stubborn landlords who insist on collecting two-year rent that they are on their own. For us as agents, one-year rent collection makes the job easier for us and the business.
But some people who’re desperate to get accommodation are the ones encouraging the collection of two-year rent. They should stop it. When they’re so desperate, they’ll not bother whether the landlord is asking for two-year rent against the government policy which is very good and not helpful to the tenant.
Can middle income earners have access to high quality properties?
With the way high quality properties cost in some parts of Africa especially in Nigeria, middle income earners that depend wholly on their meager incomes may not have access to high quality properties. Knights Frank Africa Report released early this year says that demand for high quality commercial and residential properties continues to grow across Africa on the back of the continents growth and rising wealth. This report and others show that African market is attracting growing interest from occupiers, developers and investors. The strong growth is expected to continue and is creating wealthier populations. Take for instance in Nigerian property market, oil companies, banks and telecommunication companies have established demand for high quality properties as office and residential homes.