With a population of over 170million, the real estate industry in Nigeria is one that continues to boom. While a few invest in properties, many others rent apartments to live in for a specific number of years.

In Lagos especially, more than half of the population stay in rented apartments, and property owners are getting creative, providing different options that suits individual/family needs. From flats of 2-4 bedrooms, to one-room apartments; where they share bathrooms and kitchen with other house occupants and the ones that are termed self-contain; where the renters have a room, bathroom and kitchen to themselves.

One major challenge many face is the ability to pay the ever-increasing cost of rent, and threats of being evicted by house owners. This challenge is what Ogunyemi Damilare is set out to address with his startup, PayMyRent.

Ogunyemi Damilare founded PayMyRent on the 10th of May, 2016 to help tackle all issues associated with paying house rent in Lagos. At its core, PayMyRent, takes up the burden of paying for users annual rent by providing loans and allowing repayment to be spread on a monthly basis.

PayMyRent claims to give loans ranging from ₦100,000 to ₦2,500,000, but this depends on an applicant’s monthly salary. The amount an applicant can access is uslally communicated after review of submitted applications. Interest rates also apply on the loans, ranging from about 3 to 5%, depending on the user’s credit rating.

According to Ogunyemi, “the path towards applying for a loan is quite fast. You can apply on the website and, provided all requirements are met, get your application processed “within minutes”, with funds deposited into your account”.

For applicants to complete a successful loan request, they are required to present 6 months bank statement showing last six salary entries; copy of employment letter/letter of confirmation/recent promotion letter; NURAN Compliant post-dated cheque from salary account/direct debit mandate for savings account; recent utility bill; 2 recent passport photos and copy of staff identity card and copy of pension statement or Tax ID Number.

With the number of Lagosians still under rented apartments, PayMyRent no doubt has a chance of survival, as many would find the platform interesting. But question is, does PayMyRent have enough cash to go round?