Do’s and Don’ts of Renting an Apartment/Office Space in Nigeria

By
Don Okereke


Preamble
If this were to be a university course, perhaps an apt title would read, ‘’Renting 101 in Nigeria’’ or ‘’Fundamentals of Renting in Nigeria’’.

Much has been written and published online on ‘’Relocating to Nigeria’’ and all that. These essays are usually skewed towards advising Nigerians in Diaspora wishing to relocate to Nigeria but there is a dearth of information out there on the specifics, the nitty-gritty if you like, of renting an apartment or office space in Nigeria. I have come across acerbic tales of renting an apartment in Nigeria and this galvanized me to put pen to paper. I believe many people out there will glean nuggets of information from it. A lot of people have fallen prey to the caprices of the so-called ‘’Estate Agents’’ and landlords in Nigeria hence the need to bring this to the front burner.

Few days ago, a family friend lost a substantial amount to a so-called ‘’estate developer’’ that absconded with his money and that of five others. I did a quick Google research on this topic but no specific details sprang up hence I decided to coalesce my thoughts on this so other people out there can benefit from it.

If my experience in renting an accommodation in Southwest Nigeria is anything to go by, then the Unity of this country and the often bandied cliché ‘One Nigeria’ is grossly exaggerated. We surely have a long way to go! It beggars belief that a Yoruba landlady will bluntly tell a prospective Igbo tenant that it is over her dead body to rent her house to an Igbo man. I guess some Igbo landlords reciprocate the same gesture towards the Yoruba’s too. These folks are still living in the past, probably a déjà vu from the Biafran war or previous bad experiences that makes them to extrapolate. That a Yoruba landlord had issues with an Igbo tenant does not mean every prospective Igbo person will be a bad tenant and vice versa. I am not trying to hold brief for Igbo folks here. Yes, there are bad ones; same also applies to other tribes. So rather than judge everybody with the misdeeds of others, we should rather relate with people on a one-on-one basis. It follows that I am not trying to fan the embers of ethnic vituperations and jingoism here; most of what I write herein are borne out of my personal experience and those I gleaned from other folks. Moving on.

There is no gainsaying the fact that searching for and renting an apartment in Nigeria is an arduous task. A lot of people have fallen victim and still fall victim to well-orchestrated fraudulent schemes by fraudsters and the so-called ‘’Real Estate Agents’’.

Nigeria rates very high in the echelon of Nations where tenants are unwittingly constrained into living in a rented apartment for upwards of 25 years with no plans of moving out sooner than later. A next door neighbor I know has lived in a two bedroom apartment with his family for about 27 years and he does not seem to be in a hurry to move anytime soon. It’s not that these folks enjoy the attendant insult and bullshit that comes with this type of scenario, it’s just that they have no choice. Devoid of the financial muscle to pay two years or more rent in advance plus the so-called ‘deposit’, ‘commission’, ‘agreement’, ‘damages’ etc, many tenants stay put in their current abode. In some places/cases, prospective tenants are asked to pay for PHCN (electricity bill) in advance! Contrast this with what obtains in most Western or even some neighboring African countries where tenants are required to pay just one month rent in advance and probably an equivalent amount as deposit.

It is common practice to see/hear people testifying in church, singing praises just because they managed ‘by fire by force’ to move or rent a new apartment.

This ‘accommodation wahala’ as it is popularly called in Nigerian parlance, is sequel to the fact that there is a dearth of a viable National Housing or Mortgage Policy. So there is a plethora of tenants chasing few apartments in Nigeria. People are left to fend for themselves. Again contrast this scenario with what prevails in most Western countries where Councils or developers build apartments and citizens can access sometimes upwards of 100% mortgage from Banks or Building Societies. Remember Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Northern Rock etc.

Due to the global recession and depression, Banks and Building Societies in the West seldom give 100% mortgage but as long as you have a steady job or source of income, accessing and servicing a mortgage contract in any typical Western nation is almost seamless. Depending on one’s credit history and other factors, a mortgagee can be asked to make 10% deposit payment for the apartment whereas the balance is spread say over a 25-30 year period. With the 10% down payment, the mortgagee now becomes a landlord/landlady and will make monthly remittances to the appropriate Bank or Building Society usually through direct debit payments.

I recall the days of Federal Low Cost Housing Estates. How many people-civil servants with 18,000 minimum wages can afford the so-called low-cost housing estates that some State governments or real estate developers bandy about these days? Imagine where say Lagos State government or a Big-time developer replicates equivalents of the 1004 Block of flats in Victoria Island in all the local governments in Lagos state.

The Lagos state government took a bold step by enacting a ‘Tenancy law’ which has generated a lot of debate. This is definitely a step in the right direction. However the ‘tenancy law’ is almost tantamount to a paper tiger. For now, there is a dearth of information on favorable test cases to this effect. Again, a lot of tenants are ignorant of the dictates of the law; those that are in the know may be desperate for an accommodation and will not fight for their right.

It’s a big jungle out here, like they say in Nigerian parlance: shine your eye well well!

Now to the nitty-gritty:
1. Please ensure you are issued a receipt when you pay for an apartment even if the apartment belongs to a family friend. Don’t leave anything to chance because people can be funny over here. The same applies when you renew your rent; ensure your payment is receipted. It follows that if your payment is not receipted, there is no prove of your payment should things metamorphose into a legal issue. Never assume because you lived there amicably the first year therefore it will continue to be like that. Many of these so-called landlords/landladies will be nice to you the first year but will like to frustrate you subsequently so they can rent the apartment/shop to a new tenant that will pay them another round of ‘agreement’, ‘commission’ ‘deposit’, ‘NEPA’ etc.

2. Ensure there is good access road and probably proximity to a bus stop. There are areas you live in and you have to be changing your car tyres often, not forgetting the time you spend on traffic to and fro. Proximity to a bus stop is also important especially if you don’t drive otherwise you need to take a bike to the nearest bus stop before you then board a bus to your destination. By the time you add your rent and what you spend on ‘Okada’ (bike) to and fro your nearest bus stop, it will be substantial.

3. It is highly recommended that you have a pre-paid electricity meter in your apartment. I guess this applies mainly to those living in flats etc not in a typical ‘face me, I slap you’ where occupants share a single electricity meter. A lot of houses in Nigeria lack an electricity meter so they are at the mercy of the PHCN that unilaterally estimate and allocate amounts to be paid as electricity bill. It is highly probable to see a three-storey rented apartment in Nigeria that has just a single electricity meter. Many of the landlords, especially those ones that live in the same premises with their tenants, seldom show tenants the electricity bill. They will tell you the amount to be paid each month and God bless you; you want to argue with them.
Also ensure that you do not inherit outstanding enormous bills (PHCN, LAWMA, Water) etc from the previous tenants.

4. Avoid very notorious and crime/crises-prone areas. Security and safety of lives and properties cannot be guaranteed anywhere in Nigeria but there are areas that have a semblance or iota of Security and Safety. Yes everybody cannot live in Lekki, VGC, and Banana Island etc. Beware of notorious hot-spots that have a history of high crime rate and are riot-prone. This hot spot issue is not just a Nigerian thing, it exists everywhere. For instance in England, Moss Side in Manchester is noted for drive-by shootings, drug dealing etc. In Lagos, Mushin is synonymous with high rates of thuggery and criminality. Apart from the inherent danger, kids risk imbibing some of the negative tendencies in their environment.

5. If you are using the services of the so-called ‘Agents’, never, I repeat, never give them the total amount for rent until you satisfy yourself that the apartment is truly vacant and have not been paid for by another prospective tenant. During negotiations with the ‘Agent’, subtly suggest you will like to speak with the landlord. His countenance will tell you whether there is something fishy. It’s preferable if you can rent directly from the landlord, some of them, especially the enlightened ones will not insist you pay them ‘commission’, ‘agreement’ etc. I unwittingly invoked the wrath of a particular landlord when I suggested to him that I was not expecting to pay ‘commission’ and ‘agreement’ since I got the apartment directly from him and not through an Agent. It’s safer for you to remit the rent fee to the landlord’s bank account at least your teller serves as prove of payment.

Please See Part 2 https://www.nairaland.com/1309100/don-ts-renting-apartment-officeof the article

Cheers


Don Okereke
(Security Analyst & Consultant)
donnuait@yahoo.com
+2347080008285

wise words!