1 month ago
Every weekday earlier dawn, Oluwatobi Ogundipe leaves his mini level successful Sango Ota, an business municipality successful Ogun state, for a 4 hr commute to nan solid towers of Lagos Island.
Despite moving successful 1 of Nigeria’s increasing exertion sectors, nan 32-year-old merchandise head cannot spend to unrecorded immoderate person to his office.
“In 2023, I recovered a self-contained room connected Lagos Island, adjacent to my office, pinch its ain toilet and kitchen, renting for ₦900,000 [£490] a year. After agency and statement fees were added, nan costs astir doubled. I simply couldn’t spend it,” he says. “After exploring different options, I yet decided to move to Sango Ota, wherever rent is cheaper.”
Across nan sprawling metropolis, stories specified arsenic Ogundipe’s are common. Lagos is 1 of nan African continent’s astir powerful financial, taste and intermezo centres. Its power and vibrant nightlife earned it a estimation arsenic a metropolis that ne'er sleeps. Chaotic yet magnetic, it is Africa’s astir populous metropolis aft Cairo, pinch an estimated 22 million people, according to nan authorities government. But nan aforesaid dynamism powering its maturation is besides driving its lodging marketplace to breaking point.
Obafemi Hamzat, nan state’s lawman governor, says Lagos faces persistent migration pressure, pinch astir 6,000 caller inhabitants arriving, and 3,000 leaving, each day. It brings bonzer unit connected housing.
Rents crossed Lagos person surged acold beyond costs growth. On nan mainland, flats rented for astir ₦500,000 2 years agone now costs up to ₦2.5m a year. On nan island, tenants opportunity rents person tripled. The nationalist minimum costs is ₦840,000 a year.
“This is simply a awesome issue,” says Emmanuel Joseph, a Lagos property agent. “Even if they saved each naira, they still can’t spend a ₦2m apartment. That’s why we’re progressively seeing group stock apartments conscionable to cope.”
For Ogundipe and others for illustration him, this intends a regular struggle betwixt affordability and basal survival. “You beryllium successful postulation for 4 to 5 hours, and earlier you realise, your legs commencement to numb. Sitting that agelong without stretching aliases crossing my legs yet became a endurance accomplishment for me,” he says. “Sometimes erstwhile I get disconnected nan bus, I consciousness for illustration I tin hardly consciousness my legs.”
Ayodeji Monsuru, a civilian servant and begetter of two, faces a akin challenge. He useful successful Maryland successful nan cardinal portion of nan mainland but lives successful Ijaiye, 1 of nan city’s outermost districts. Each morning, he wakes earlier sunrise for a commute that often exceeds 2 hours.
“I near New Oko Oba [in nan northbound of Lagos city] 2 years agone because I couldn’t spend nan rent summation from ₦300,000 to ₦500,000,” he says. “Going from location to house, it felt arsenic if each landlord successful Lagos had agreed successful 1 gathering to raise their rents each astatine once.”
Monsuru earns astir ₦240,000 a period but spends ₦3,500 play connected carrier to work. Rising lodging costs, he says, are pushing professionals retired of nan metropolis centre, and if nan inclination continues he whitethorn time off altogether.
“Sometimes I wonderment if moving successful nan metropolis is moreover worthy it,” he says.
Urban guidance experts opportunity these struggles are symptoms of a broader structural crisis.
Prof Taibat Lawanson, a professor of municipality guidance and governance astatine nan University of Lagos, says Lagos has a lodging shortage of much than 3.4 cardinal units. “The city’s organization is increasing faster than its lodging supply, pushing galore group to relocate to cheaper areas, often by sharing flats aliases utilizing different informal surviving arrangements,” she says.
“We’ve seen various itinerant practices: immoderate group slumber successful their offices, while others walk weekdays successful Lagos and commute to families extracurricular nan metropolis connected weekends.”
But proviso shortages show only half nan story. In immoderate countries, specified arsenic nan UK, lodging analysts statement that nan shortage of affordable homes is made acold worse by backstage developers prioritising high-end projects complete affordable housing.
A akin inclination is unfolding successful Lagos, wherever precocious building costs, soaring municipality onshore prices, constricted lodging finance and anemic incentives for affordable lodging push developers toward luxury projects alternatively of affordable ones.
“Lagos is simply a very land-poor city, pinch insufficient onshore area to build; its economical improvement is pushing investors toward focusing connected building premium housing,” Lawanson says, “because building affordable homes is acold little profitable.”
This has fuelled a proliferation of luxury flats, moreover arsenic group struggle to unafraid basal accommodation.
Emmanuel points to nan fame of short-term rentals. “Many landlords are converting their homes into short-let properties,” he says. “They tin gain importantly much from short-term stays than from accepted semipermanent tenants.”
Platforms specified arsenic Airbnb person accelerated nan trend, enabling trading of properties nonstop to visitors and business travellers.
For 1 landlord successful nan suburb of Lekki, this modulation is economically advantageous. “The thought of short lets, for instance, is that you could gain arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin from a agelong fto wrong a play of a week aliases a month. For us, it’s simply business.”
But it is simply a business that efficaciously worsens shortages.
“When homes are converted into short-term rentals, less units stay disposable for semipermanent tenants,” Lawanson says. “That scarcity drives prices moreover higher.”
Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, typical advisor connected lodging to nan Lagos authorities governor, did not respond to nan Guardian’s petition for comment.
For now, Lagos’s residents adapt. Each morning, thousands make journeys for illustration Ogundipe’s, done nan city’s infamous traffic, leaving distant suburbs and neighbouring states into Africa’s astir move city.
“We each travel to Lagos chasing something,” he says. “But these days, it feels for illustration nan metropolis is slow pushing america away.”
