Changes in Lagos properties creating urban slums in high brow areas

...as landlords convert standard flats to smaller units

Many Lagos cities and towns are gradually turning to urban slums as more landlords convert their properties to smaller units in order to accommodate more tenants, Business Hallmark’s findings have revealed.

From Ikeja, to Yaba, Shomolu, Bariga, Mushin, Ojota, Surulere, Egbeda, Agege, Akowonjo, Oshodi, Ogba and many others, the face of the cities is changing rapidly with many low density neighborhoods transforming to high density areas.

According to BH investigation, the trend began about four or five years ago when demand for accommodations surged as more people seeking economic emancipation, as well as those running away from rising insecurity in their states embarked on a massive exodus from their states to Lagos.

Capitalizing on the surge in housing demands brought about by high human movements,  landlords embarked on rents increment binge.

For instance, an average 3-bedroom flat that was given out for N500,000 in Ogba and its environs in 2021, currently goes for between N1.5 million and N4 million, depending on its location, newness and facilities (POP ceilings, separate bathrooms e.t.c).

In the same vein, a one-room self contained apartment in the same area, which was rented for N150,000 to N350,000 on the average in 2021, is now being given out for between N350,000 to N1 million.

Checks confirmed that the situation is not different in many parts of Lagos as tenants battle incessant rents hike by overzealous landlords.

Limit of Rent Hike

As a result, many Lagosians, who could not afford the new rents were forced to move deeper into the suburbs in search of cheaper accommodations.

Also, findings revealed that frequent clashes broke out between shylock landlords and  uncompromising tenants, who refuse to yield to constant rent increments or vacate their rented apartments as demanded by their hosts.

Tenants resistance, as well as the income lost to many months, and even years of litigations, as well as the properties becoming encumbered while the disputes lasted, albeit minimal, slowed down the landlords penchant for increasing rents almost on a yearly basis.

However, in pursuit of more money, the cunning landlords quickly found an ingenious way out of the debacle. The way out: Conversion of their properties to one-room self contained and 1 to 2-bedroom apartments, which are increasingly in demand due to rising rent, and compulsively fetched more income.

As a result, the ubiquitous 3 to 4 bedroom flats preferred by the middle class is quietly disappearing from many Lagos neighborhoods. With this arrangement, landlords now get more income from their properties without necessarily going out of their way to embark new structures or raise rent.

To achieve this objective,  landlords normally issue quit notices to sitting tenants so that the properties will be vacant and available to workmen for quick remodelling and partitioning.

Difficult tenants are offered a chance of moving to much smaller apartments or consider quiting.

In several cases, heavily disturbed tenants do accept the offer of “stepping down,” instead of going through the troubles of searching for new houses at much higher costs.

Meanwhile, the larger apartments that are newly converted to smaller units are then given out to new tenants at the old or higher rates.

Conspiracy Against Tenants

Sources in the real estate sector informed BH that in most cases, estate agents, popularly known as “caretakers” in Lagos and some parts of the country, are largely responsible for this new trend.

“In many instances, they are the ones that influence landlords to increase rents or convert their properties for their own personal gains.

“If you meet some nice landlords personally in the course of searching for accommodation, you won’t pay all the fees charged by lawyers, except the actual rent. They are more concerned with their rents and a small fee for damages.

“But God save you if you go through agents. They will first charge you registration fee of between N10,000 to N50,000 to retain their service. Then, they charge you for transportation and logistics every time you go out on house hunting.

“In other to maximise their commissions, they also encourage landlords to partition their bigger 3-4 bedroom apartments to smaller units.

“You know that the more units there are in a building, the more agency and agreement fees they get,” said a real estate surveyor, Mr. Gbenga Alaba.

Meanwhile, while landlords and their conniving agents are daily smiling to the bank, the living conditions of these partitioned properties are nothing to write home about.

BH findings revealed that majority of the converted apartments immediately become rowdy and overpopulated after their conversion.

For instance, our correspondent visited several newly converted apartments in Lagos during a survey. One of the buildings, which previously contained six 3-bedroom flats, now has 12 apartments, made up of four 2-bedroom flats, and eight room and parlour self contained apartments.

A tenant in one of the affected buildings in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos, informed our correspondent that he had not known peace since he moved into the building.

“There are about 10 apartments in my new house. Unfortunately, all the tenants have, at least, one vehicle. So, not all vehicles can fit into the compound. With only spaces available for 6 cars, the rest are parked on the street.

“We have had cases where our vehicles were vandalized and parts like batteries, tyres and brain boxes stolen by hoodlums.

“That’s even the least of my problems. To drive out of my premises some days are hellish. You have to call everyone at your back to move before you can exit the compound.

“The same applies when you park at behind them. I sometimes receive calls as late as 11.30pm and as early as 4.00am to come and move my vehicle so that other tenants can drive in or out.

“There are several days I don’t even use my vehicle to work on weekdays or church on Sundays because the owners of some vehicles behind my car refused to come out. It is that bad,” said Banji Alawode, a civil servant working with the Lagos State government.

Government Complicity

Apart from creating inconveniences for occupants of the houses, the public infrastructure around these converted buildings are often overstretched.

For instance, our correspondent observed that many roads turned to car parks have caved in at the exact spots vehicles are parked, thereby needing urgent rehabilitation by government.

A senior local government official in the Ijaiye-Ojokoro Local Government Development Area (LCDA), who spoke to BH on the matter, said enforcement teams of the local government are handicapped to enforce order as the council leadership are more concerned about earning revenue.

“In most cases, council and state government officials are complicit in the decay. You can’t embark on any construction in the state without paying one form of levy or the other.

“So, as long as the state, councils and their officials earn revenue, they turn their faces the other way while these reconstructions are allowed to continue.

“We have had several cases of fire incidents, where fire officials could not access affected properties because structures have been built on access routes and paths,” said the concerned LG staff, who did not want to be identified.

The LG official’s allegation was confirmed by our correspondent during visits to some reconstruction sites.

On the gates of several houses in the Jankara, Clem Road, Agbado Crossing Road and Jonathan Coker Street in the Fagba area of Ifako-Ijaiye and Ijaiye-Ojokoro Local Government Areas of Lagos undergoing renovation, payment instructions mandating their owners to go and pay “development levy” to the LGAs were seen by our correspondent.