Prices of leased accommodation in most parts of the south have recorded a new high, with the thresholds doubling, pushing affordability beyond the reach of residents.
Findings showed that the chaotic real sector bites the hardest in cities across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Bayelsa, reports The Guardian.
The escalating home prices are widening supply gaps and attendant socioeconomic pressure on more households.
Young families and low-income earners, particularly those surviving on the N70,000 minimum wage or a little above, are struggling to meet the increasingly prohibitive rent demands of landlords.
Residents said landlords routinely increase rent without providing commensurate improvements in facilities, leaving many households trapped between harsh living conditions and the risk of displacement.
Demand for residential accommodation has intensified across urban centres, tipping the market heavily in favour of high-income earners and investors.
State governments have made limited progress in developing public housing for civil servants and lower-income groups, even as Nigeria’s housing deficit, estimated at nearly 28 million units, continues to widen.
The World Bank projects that Nigeria’s urban population will grow by 200 million by 2050, raising fears of expanding slums and a worsening housing crisis.
Although headline inflation has moderated in recent months, declining to 15.15 per cent in December, prices of building materials remain high.
A 50kg bag of cement still sells between N10,000 and N10,500, depending on brand and location. Iron rods cost between N9,500 and N12,000 per length; sand and granite sell for up to N80,000 per tonne; six and nine-inch blocks cost between N700 and N950. Prices of sanitary wares, tiles and other fittings also remain elevated.
Manufacturers attribute these increases to rising haulage costs, high energy prices and general production expenses. As a result, developing a decent two-bedroom apartment in Lekki, Lagos, now costs between N230 million and N270 million, while a studio apartment can cost between N65 million and N85 million.
South-West: Fresh spike despite regulatory measures
Findings by our correspondent show that rents in many South-West locations have risen by more than 100 per cent within the last two years, particularly in Lagos and Ogun.
Real estate intermediaries, accused of inflating prices and creating artificial demand, have further distorted the rental market. Attempts by some states, such as Lagos, to introduce rent control mechanisms have remained slow. With the rental market largely controlled by private operators, market forces continue to drive prices.
In Lagos, rents continue to surge due to a 3.4 million housing deficit, high construction costs, unregulated estate agent activities, increased migration, and expensive property documentation processes.
The latest State of Lagos Housing Market report indicates that 618,356 homes in the state are inadequate, structurally unsafe, overcrowded or lacking basic services.
While the state has delivered 11,000 homes in six years, affordable rental housing remains grossly undersupplied.
In Ikeja GRA and adjoining areas, Maryland, Mende, Ogudu, Ojodu-Berger, three-bedroom flats now command rents between N1.5 million and N5 million. Two-bedroom apartments that rented for N800,000 to N1 million in 2023 now go for upwards of N2 million.
On Lagos Island, Banana Island remains the most expensive location in Nigeria, with a two-bedroom apartment renting for an average of N25 million yearly.
In Lekki, two-bedroom rents range from N3 million to N9 million, depending on location and furnishings.
The rising costs have forced many residents to relocate from high-income neighbourhoods to more affordable areas such as Surulere, Ojodu-Berger, Arepo, Magboro, Sango-Ota and Mowe.
In Ondo, two-bedroom units in major cities now rent for N1 million or more; three-bedroom apartments range from N1.5 million to N1.8 million. Only two years ago, these same apartments rented for N400,000 to N600,000.
Also, in Ogun, locations such as Laderin, Olokuta, Ibara, Oke-Ilewo, HID Estate and Obasanjo Hilltop have recorded rent hikes of up to 100 per cent over the past year. Two-bedroom flats go for N1.5 million and above; self-contained apartments for N350,000–N400,000; one-room units for up to N600,000.
While in Oyo, especially in Oluyole and Ring Road, studio apartments cost N250,000–N400,000; mini-flats, N450,000–N600,000; two-bedroom flats, N700,000–N900,000; three-bedroom flats, N900,000–N1.5 million. In Bodija, Akobo, and Jericho, two-bedroom flats cost N1.2–N1.8 million, and three-bedroom flats rent for up to N2.5 million.
Similarly, in Osun, a two-bedroom apartment previously renting for N350,000 now costs between N500,000 and N600,000. Three-bedroom units that once rented for N350,000 now cost up to N1.5 million. Even in suburban areas, rent has risen from N450,000 to about N500,000.
In Ekiti, rents have risen by 50–100 per cent in many areas. Self-contained units now cost N150,000–N250,000; two-bedroom apartments have jumped from N400,000 to N1.8 million; three-bedroom units now rent for as high as N4 million.
Many home-seekers accuse estate agents of manipulating the market by quoting rents far above market value and pressuring landlords to impose unjustified increases.
A Lagos resident, Anthony Olutade, warned that if rent hikes continue unchecked, “over 50 per cent of Lagos residents may be forced to relocate, and many could end up living under bridges.”
South-South: More residents retreat to villages for accommodation
Across the South-South, a silent real estate ‘emergency’ is also unfolding, reshaping lives long before it attracts legislative attention or executive response.
From Calabar to Asaba and Yenagoa, households are steadily shrinking their dreams to match the relentless rise in rent. In many neighbourhoods, moving vans have become a permanent feature of the landscape — not symbols of progress, but of forced displacement.
Tenants now sign one-year leases knowing fully that renewal may be impossible. A tenancy agreement has become a 12-month countdown to uncertainty.
The consequences are far-reaching. Families quietly retreat to rural communities where life is harder but more predictable. Children are withdrawn from schools mid-session. Small business owners see their capital swallowed by rent.
Civil servants surrender their entire salaries to landlords and survive on loans. Long-established communities, once stable for decades, are turning transient — emptied of old residents and refilled by desperate newcomers willing to accept punishing terms.
A tenant and housing activist, Emmanuel Ogar, describes the situation as a full-blown social emergency. “People are passing through a lot,” he said. “Many have relocated to the village because rent now affects their mental health, their children’s education and their quality of life. Shelter should be a basic necessity, not a privilege for a few.”
For instance, a two-bedroom apartment in Calabar’s State Housing Estate that once rented for N400,000 now goes for between N850,000 and N1.2 million. Three-bedroom flats have risen from N1.3 million to at least N1.7 million.
In formerly affordable neighbourhoods such as Atimbo and Satellite Town, single self-contained rooms that cost N80,000 in 2011 now attract N250,000 to N500,000.
Journalist Chris Njoku shares a similar ordeal. An apartment initially priced at N850,000 eventually rose to N1.1 million after agents’ and legal fees. Within 24 hours, another N100,000 was added because of competing tenants.
“In some places, a two-room self-contained goes for N1.1 million. The tragedy is that desperation has created a willing market,” he said. A Benin City resident, Friday Efe, blamed the middlemen for the outrageous hike in house rent in the city, lamenting that his rent was increased by 350 per cent in the space of two years.
“I moved into the three-bedroom apartment five years ago at a rate of N200,000. In 2023, after a little painting of the outside and flooring, the rent was increased to N350,000. Because of the strategic location and closeness to the city centre, I paid.
“After a few months, the landlord came to Nigeria and paid a surprise visit to his property and was shocked that all that he had been paying for was not replaced. He was said to have paid the caretaker N40 million to renovate the apartment, but the agent did little, so he sacked him and hired another agent.
“The new agent, after a few months, served notice of increment. My apartment was increased from N350,000 to N950,000. So, everyone vacated the compound due to the increase. Now, I heard a few weeks ago that the landlord was not aware of the increment, and had, because of that, sacked the caretaker.”
A resident of Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area, Agene Ebojele, lamented that house rent is becoming unaffordable to the common man, particularly civil servants.
He said: “For instance, the least price for a self-contained in Auchi is about N250,000, while a bedroom apartment is going for N1.2 million. Even in Aviele, a suburb of Auchi, a bedroom is going for N800,000 to N1 million, which is outrageous.”
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State’s capital, is one of the hardest hit. Tenants accuse illegal agents and “shyster landlords” of exploiting weak regulation. Self-contained apartments, once rented for N120,000 to N200,000, now cost between N800,000 and N1.5 million, while three-bedroom flats range from N1 million to N3 million — far beyond the reach of most civil servants.
University communities such as Otuoke, Amassoma, Sagbama and Toru-Orua are worst affected. Although landlords cite rising building costs, residents argue that many houses, built decades ago, are being used to justify arbitrary hikes.
Some landlords defend the increases, pointing to skyrocketing prices of building materials. A bundle of zinc sheets that once sold for N35,000 now costs about N400,000.
Others, however, blame government inaction and the absence of state-led mass housing schemes. “If the government builds estates, rents will come down,” a civil servant said.
Legislation and regulatory failure
Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Ondo branch, Akinlabi Akintomide, blamed the rent hike on rising construction costs, high demand and population growth.
He also noted that unexplained wealth in the system is driving some individuals to pay “any amount,” distorting rental benchmarks for entire neighbourhoods.
He urged the government to stabilise the prices of building materials and treat housing as a social service, saying, “If civil servants are taken out of the rental market through dedicated housing schemes, supply will be freed up, and prices will normalise.”
The Chairman, NIESV Ogun branch, Adeolu Adejimi, cited rising labour and material costs and increased demand in well-serviced neighbourhoods as major drivers of rent increases.
His Osun counterpart, Adedoye Adekunle, said development taxes imposed on landlords and tenants are contributing to rising rents. He noted that while the government’s PPP housing programmes exist, they mainly favour civil servants, leaving out private-sector workers and low-income earners.
In Oyo, the NIESV Chairman, Ogunbiyi Oluwafisayo, linked rent spikes to limited infrastructure, heightened migration due to relative security, and inadequate government investment in low-cost housing.
“The schemes developed so far are seen as elitist,” he said.
Former NIESV Lagos branch chairman, Dotun Bamigbola, noted that despite falling inflation and a stronger naira, land and construction costs have not dropped. Internal migration within Lagos, such as businesses relocating from Victoria Island to Ikeja, has also intensified rent pressure.
He recommended tax breaks and single-digit financing to enable developers to build for low-income groups. Chairman, NIESV Ekiti State, Oluwasola Ekundayo, called for rent regulation, increased land allocation for housing and stronger government–private sector partnerships. He lamented the activities of fraudsters and unscrupulous agents who are “exploiting tenants with high rents and poor services.”
Medical practitioner, Dr Daniel Okwoche, says estate agents are worsening tenants’ suffering. He recounts losing an apartment after an agent pushed up the rent to inflate commission. “Even old houses with leaking roofs are priced like new ones,” he lamented. “After paying rent, how do families feed, pay school fees or medical bills?”
Public anger has, however, begun to draw legislative attention. The Cross River State House of Assembly is considering measures to regulate what it described as “unreasonable, unprovoked and economically destabilising” rent increases. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem said tenant-protection legislation has become a priority, with lawmakers warning of links between the housing crisis and rising crime, broken homes and moral decline.
In Asaba, the story is similar. Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Asaba Zone, Dr Ossai Chukwuma Anthony, said housing costs have become unbearable. “If you remove house rent, it is like you remove everything you have,” he said.
“Survival becomes the problem.” He blamed estate agents for escalating rents and called for strict regulation and rent control.
Mr Ken Obiora, a resident, says annual rent increments have destroyed livelihoods. While landlords cite rising construction costs, he insists that some increases are indefensible. He added that some landlords subject tenants to humiliating conditions to retain their homes.
In response, the Delta State House of Assembly is pushing the Landlord and Tenant Bill, proposing rent caps, rent tribunals in local government areas, stricter eviction rules, and mandatory registration of estate agents with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has passed a resolution urging the regulation of arbitrary rent increases and advocating for a Rent Control Law and tenancy mediation committees. Commissioner for Information, Kuku Obeie, said the state is investing in housing, including a 500-unit Prosperity Estate.
Experts agree that only decisive intervention can stem the crisis: enforceable rent control laws, licensing of estate agents, rent tribunals in all local governments, large-scale investment in affordable housing and measures to reduce building material costs.
Without urgent action, South-South cities risk becoming unliveable for the very workers who keep them running. For tenants across the region, the demand is modest — not luxury, but fairness, dignity and the assurance that having a roof over one’s head should not be the exclusive preserve of the wealthy.
