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By Adewale Sanyaolu
A report by BuyLetLive titled “Residential Occupier Report” has revealed that 63 per cent of Lagosians have a preference for annual rent payments compared to a monthly payment structure.
The survey appears to be contrary to plans by the Lagos State government to introduce monthly online rent payments in the state’s real estate sector.
According to the report, about 62.6 per cent of Lagos respondents still prefer annual rental payments over other payment methods.
The state government revealed in a document titled “EKO Revenue Plus Summit,” themed “Unlocking New Revenue Streams for Lagos State”, the plan to generate N2.5 billion annually from approximately 100,000 subscriptions each year.
The BuyLetLive report indicates that the digital platform will be co-owned by the state government, with agencies like the Lagos State Ministry of Housing and other MDAs serving as technical partners.
Another 36.4 per cent also indicated interest in moving between the next six months to 12 months.The report noted that the rental preference of Lagosians indicates a strong demand for affordable housing in the state.
Furthermore, the survey reported that most Lagosians prefer to pay between N1 million and N3 million as annual rent payments as noted by 34.5 per cent of respondents.
Also, 11.8 per cent of respondents prefer rent prices between N100k and N500 thousand while 26.4 per cent prefer yearly rent payments between N500k and N1 million.
On the other hand, only 7.3 per cent of respondents could afford rent payments of N5 million to 10 million as 20% would choose a rent payment between N3 million to N5 million.
In terms of apartment size, most Lagosians reported in the survey showed a preference for two-bed room ad three-bed room apartments with 38.2 per cent and 35.5 per cent respectively choosing the apartment category.
Also, 16.4 per cent and 9.2 per cent of respondents choose four-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments respectively as their preferred apartment type.
The report projected the real estate market in Lagos to continue to display resilience despite a slew of macroeconomic malaise in the past one year. It noted that the pace of increase in prices will slow down in the second half of the year compared to the pace of increase in the last one year. The report also stated that economic instabilities in the country (inflation and exchange rate volatility) were derailing both local and foreign investments in the sector with investors taking a “wait and see” approach. It is projected that such a strategy will result in competition for existing housing units in high-demand areas. It emphasised that despite the economic problems, the real estate sector is bound to grow in the coming years due to population growth and rapid urbanisation.
