Lagos to follow suit as Enugu govt. moves to stop outrageous rent

Lagos State will soon intervene to regulate the outrageous house rent and other fees required from tenants to rent a house in the state. 

Jubril A. Gawat, the Senior Special Assistant on New Media to Lagos State Governor, disclosed this on X. 

He shared a copy of a bill in the Enugu State House of Assembly which seeks to place a cap on excessive rent charges in thr South Eastern State. 

In his caption, Gawat wrote: “Lagos … Coming Soon. 

“A Very strong issue but must be well discussed and implemented, after deliberation by the Lagos House of Assembly.” 

This comes as the Enugu State House of Assembly is considering a bill to regulate agency and legal fees for tenancy agreements, and to ban caution fees charged by landlords. 

Following complaints about tenant exploitation, the bill, titled “A Bill for a Law to Amend the Landlord and Tenant Law, CAP. 101, Laws of Enugu State, 2024,” was sponsored by Hon. Okey Mbah, representing Nkanu East State Constituency, underwent its first reading on Tuesday. 

The proposed legislation seeks to cap agency and legal fees at 10% of the rent and abolish caution fees—charges imposed on tenants by landlords that are rarely refunded at the end of the tenancy. 

Section 3(3) of the proposed law states: “With effect from the commencement of this law and notwithstanding any provisions in other enactments, agent fees chargeable for procuring any accommodation in the state shall not exceed 10% of the rent payable by the prospective tenant.” 

Similarly, Section 3(4) provides: “No tenant shall be required to pay any further premium in acquiring accommodation except for a legal fee payable to a qualified legal practitioner for the preparation of the landlord and tenant agreement, which shall not exceed 10% of the rent.” 

Violations of the law, once enacted, will be punishable by a fine of N500,000, a six-month prison term, or both. 

The bill also aims to protect tenants from forced, irregular, and fraudulent evictions by establishing legally defined eviction timelines and notice periods.