•Landlords, tenants clash over lease hike
From Jude Idu, Abuja
The removal of petrol subsidy and naira devaluation has come with unpalatable economic consequences. Nigerians are gnashing their teeth and braving the odds to survive.
In Abuja, the subsidy removal nightmare has precipitated a different kind of crisis and ruptured the fragile peace between tenants and landlords. Some tenants who already got notices on rent increment before the subsidy removal urged their hosts to revert to the old rate, “because it has become practically impossible to honour such a hike in view of the harsh economic realities.”
Some other tenants were shocked when their landlords responded to their “happy new month” greetings in June with a notification of a staggering 100 per cent hike in rent. In most instances, the landlords shut the door against any negotiation, leaving the tenants frustrated and disillusioned.
Miss David Jude, a single mother and secondary school teacher, said she had to file a defence against a suit instituted by her landlord, who dragged her to court over her refusal to pay the new rent. The landlord has doubled lease on the studio apartment she occupies:
“Studio apartments within the Karu-Nyanya corridor that initially cost N100,000 have shot up to N200,000 per annum. Those in a more serene environment now go for N250,000. A one-bedroom flat has now gone up from N200,000 to N300,000. How many people in the low-income bracket can afford that?
“President Bola Tinubu has carried out a series of economic reforms including tax and tariff hikes. These are like economic punches, which left many Nigerians gasping for breath.
“I’ve told my landlord to stick to the old rent of N100,000. He hinted of the price increase in January with effect from June 1. But by May 29, Tinubu dropped the first bomb on us, which was the shocking removal of the fuel subsidy that led to a tripling of pump prices and hike in transport fare.
“Second is the floating of the naira, allowing the market forces to determine the exchange rate, which resulted in a 40 per cent devaluation of the currency. All these badly impacted the prices of goods and foods. To cut a long story short, we are in court.”
Mr Michael Jimoh, a civil servant living on Abacha Road, Mararaba, sued his landlord who forced him to sign a new tenancy agreement for a rent increase for a two-bedroom apartment from N400,000 to N600,000. A three-bedroom flat that used to go for N300,000, now goes for between N500,000 and N700,000.
He told Daily Sun: “These landlords are criminals. Last year, we saw an influx of Yahoo boys at Abacha Road housing estates in Mararaba and they jacked up the rent by 50 per cent. We all know that Yahoo boys can dislodge anybody just to have any house of their choice. That is to the benefit of the landlords who do not care about the character and integrity of their tenants so long as they possess deep pockets.
“They don’t care about where and how such people acquired their wealth. Now, it is subsidy increase. They keep exploiting every opportunity to rip the innocent ones apart, without considering the scathing economic headwinds.
“I hope Tinubu will provide palliatives. We all supported that fuel subsidy should be removed but not to inflict pains at a higher degree on the masses.”
Mr. Emmanuel Mbah, a cell phone repairer, said: “I am not happy with the way rent is being increased anyhow by landlords in the FCT. What surprises me is that the landlords have not renovated their houses. The houses remain what we used to live in and of old structures. How then does the subsidy removal affect old houses?
“I think those who should be talking of increase in house rents are those who built or are putting up new ones. These landlords are dubious in nature. They increase house rent arbitrarily even when the government provides road networks to certain areas and potable water. Yet, they prey on innocent tenants.
“These are some of the things we talk about government insensitivities in making some policies. I am among those who supported the removal of fuel subsidy, but not without taking so many economic issues into consideration.
“We learnt that the implementation was supposed to begin by the first week of July, but Tinubu felt otherwise. What this means is that the poor should go and die because the rich are protected.
“Let me also remind you that the poor in this part of the world are not considered whenever decisions are made or when the government makes policies. The policies are to favour the rich.
“A struggling Nigerian with N20,000 monthly salary, should have his or her interest protected before such decisions are made. It is obvious that the presidential declaration pitched the tenants against the landlords and the latter saw an opportunity to make quick money.”
Bernard Peters, a businessman observed:
“I am aware that some of these landlords have no genuine land documents traceable in the FCT. But the other difficult thing is that the authority has failed to address it. How can illegality go to court to claim victory?
“You can imagine a man who does not have allocation papers for the land he occupied but can go to court to sue tenants for non-payment of rent. It is an aberration.”
In Area 11, Garki, rent for a studio apartment now goes for N700,000, up from N400,000. A one-bedroom flat that used to be N700,000 is now N900,000; while a two-bedroom apartment that was between N500,000 and N600,000 has risen to N1 million and above.
Similar hikes were noticed in Jikwoyi, Orozo and Karshi areas where landlords and tenants are engulfed in legal wars. A self-contained room ranges from N120,000-N130,000 as against N70,000-N100,000; one-bedroom flat N180,000–N200,000 up from N150,000; and a 2-bedroom flat N300,000–N350,000 up from N250,000.
Rent in Gwagwalada, a university community, remained stable. A self-contained room ranges from N120,000–N150,000; one-bedroom flat, N200,000–N250,000 and two-bedroom N300,000–N400,000 depending on the location, the state of the building and the amenities therein.
Rising in defence of his colleagues, Jubrin Hutu, a landlord at Abacha Road, said: “Some of the tenants do not believe that we all feel the impact of the same market. In my own opinion, the tenants do not feel the heat much because the price of building materials went up immediately after the fuel subsidy removal announcement came in.
“Even when some of them alleged that we increased house rent on old houses. Ask them, who provides for the renovations and maintenance of the dilapidated structures? Why don’t they handle the renovations?
“Some of them call the landlord for renovations. They even call for evacuation of human waste whenever the soak away is filled up. Ask them, who foots the bill? Who maintains leaking roofs and drainages?”
Director, Department of Development Control, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Yahaya Yusuf, was not available for response, especially regarding landlords who acquire illegal lands and build houses to make quick money from residents. In an earlier media briefing, he had revealed that the satellite towns have the highest number of illegal structures in the entire FCT:
“Members of the public see that it is a little difficult to get plots in city centres and that they won’t be able to withstand the approval process. So they see such settlements as easy access to having a structure.”