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Among the three basic needs of man, Housing in Lagos has become a major concern. Many in Lagos are not comfortable with where they live, but cannot do much about it due to the cost of renting, building or buying a more comfortable house.

Several entrepreneurs have attempted solving it. Some are still attempting. However, this is beyond a one man's effort. In this article is my attempt to analyze the problems, causes, and possible solutions.

ABOUT LAGOS
Lagos has a population of more than 22million inhabitants and over 500,000 people adding to the Lagos population every year. It is one of the few cities that have become so big and spanned into another state such that inhabitants of the neighbouring states see themselves more as lagosians than of the state they are in. A perfect example is Sango ota and Mowe in Ogun State which shares boundary with Lagos.

A good number of houses in Lagos lay vacant, especially on the island with no occupant as the cost of the house rent is not affordable to majority of those seeking accommodation. Permit me to add to it that the cost for some of the house rent is so outrageous, you could almost build/buy a 4bedrom flat, in some other cities and still have some money left in your account.

While there is no stable statistics yet, majority of Lagosians work to avoid being kicked out of their house every year. Even under some bridges, some thugs are said to make themselves landlord there such that anyone who comes under the bridge to spend the night for whatsoever reason (usually due to lack of accommodation) has to pay some amount.

While I have stated earlier that Lagos has spanned into some parts of Ogun, it doesn't mean there are no lands. As a matter of fact, there is still enough land being explored along Lekki, Ajah and Ikorodu, among others. But one of the major problems is the cost of the land. A tenant who can barely pay three hundred and fifty thousand naira for his rent will not think of buying a plot of land worth 5million.

One major thing that determines where people stay is their job. Most of the major companies and organizations in Nigeria pitch themselves in Lagos. This causes many to perceive Lagos as a land of opportunities. Some who have never visited Lagos before tend to have this notion that if you want to make it in life, Lagos is the place. They believe going to Lagos automatically means becoming rich.


Another factor responsible for the housing and population crisis in Lagos is mindset. There is this idea that people have about Lagos that makes everyone to want to live in Lagos. The stories of Lagos make many who have not been there yet to long for the experience. And the hype Lagos has forces business organizations to think they will thrive more if their main offices or headquarters relocated to Lagos. Same with religious organizations, celebrities and artistes.

Politicians and other rich people buy houses and lands in Lagos because of the prestige attached to Lagos. Even people who have nothing want to be affiliated with the name Lagos for prestige sake. how do you expect people to not troop into Lagos?

EFFECTS

This in turn increases automobile traffic, and worsens health condition in Lagos. Yes, the government has a great role to play in mitigating population, improving living condition and increasing housing and accommodation.

People are not able to live in the environment where they worked, or work in the area where they live. Many vacancies for instance in Lekki but the criteria is one must reside in Lekki. Pay is below N100,000. Most houses in Lekki are quite expensive. So expensive that one who is paid for example N1,200,000 per year cannot afford the N800,000 to N1,500,000 rent. And those who can afford such rent work in places where their annual pay is more than twice the amount for their rent.

I understand there are exceptions. Some artistes, celebrities, others, who may not earn or make as much as they appear to be would rather live in expensive areas of Lagos to maintain the high reputation they get from their fans, or whoever they are doing that for. And for some, it pays, they say. Because it makes clients to price them high, and gives them a platform to close higher deals.

Here it is in a lay mans word: you don't want to award a N50million naira project to some guy living in one of the ghetto areas of Ajegunle no matter how professional he professes to be. Your mindset is, a professional that will execute project of this huge amount must have a class and his status must attest to the fact that he can handle such amount.

Now, I am not here to be a judge - to say if it is right or wrong. I'm only giving possible reasons why people live where they live which leads to housing crisis in Lagos.

SOLUTION

But it is disaster to sit down and wait for the government to find solution to it. Hence, private sectors, real estate firms and developers must hence attend to this huge demand. This is a business opportunity that must not be taken lightly. Places like Badagry, Ajah, Ikorodu, Mowe, etc can be developed intentionally for the low and middle class.


With hundreds of houses lying unoccupied in different places in Lagos, some for months, some close to a year due to cost of rent, House owners should reconsider lowering the cost of rent so it can be affordable for people. This will have solve quite a number of problems st once such as the following:

Traffic will be minimized as people will no longer have to leave for instance Iyana Ipaja to their office at Ikoyi.

It will reduce the stress of waking up at 4am hitting the road at 5am and returning home at 10 or 11pm. And it will increase health and lifespan.

It will give vacancy for someone who works in say Iyana Ipaja but lives in Berger, to relocate to somewhere close to their work place.

In addition, companies, organizations, firms, should be encouraged to spread their tents to new and different areas of Lagos, especially the new developing sites, and not congest in one place. This will help people to be encouraged to move to for instance new sites like Ikorodu when they see job opportunities there. I mentioned Ikorodu because as of the time of writing this, rent is ridiculously cheap in areas of Ikorodu and few are trooping in for fear of the cost of transportation from there to their place of work.

The government of Lagos also needs to be more intentional about the housing structure and expansion of Lagos. It should make easier the legal aspect of Land such as issuing Certificate of Occupancy.

Government should also create projects such as extension of roads, electricity, commercial areas like banks, markets, and academic projects like schools, institutions, hospitals, etc in new unused sites to encourage movement to those sites, for the decongestion of population in certain areas of Lagos.

The problems, causes, effects and solutions in this article NOT ONLY applies to Lagos. It is also applicable to states and cities will similar housing crisis.

If you ever need to reach me for questions, consultancy, housing project, research or correction, kindly contact me via this number: +2347080225737 (calls and WhatsApp preferably). Please drop your comments and questions below if any. I sincerely appreciate your patience in reading this long article. I do hope it was worth the ride.