FG Monthly Rent Initiative: Nigerians May Start Paying Rent On A Monthly Basis

The house of Senate on Friday 1st March 2024 calls for review of tenancy laws to allow landlords collect rent monthly.

Nigerians may start paying property rent on a monthly basis going by the latest resolution between the federal and state governments on the matter. This much was decided at the recently concluded sixth meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

The ministry said advanced payment of rents, up to three years or more is overburdening tenants.

They noted that many houses are unoccupied due to the way rents are being collected. Relief from yearly burdensome rent payments by tenants across the country, has been triggered as a bill for monthly rent payment, is to been passed by the Senate for consideration this week.

The move reared up again, months after the ninth Senate made similar attempts to ease Nigerians’ burden.

The bill was first presented to the Senate in 2022 by Senator Nwoko in titled :“One-Month Rent Limitation and Landlord Registry Act”, aimed at abolition of yearly rent payment by tenants in Nigeria through a Rent Control Body.

As stated, the proposed bill, makes it easier for tenants to pay their rents monthly instead of the oppressive one year/two or three years rent payment, thereby fostering cordial relationships between the landlords and tenants.

According to report, the current yearly rent payment, makes tenants face difficulties in raising their rent in bulk with attendant disharmony between them and their landlords or caretakers.

At the meeting of permanent secretaries during a council meeting, senior government officials from the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, as well as those from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing agreed to enact a law that would allow monthly rental payments across the country.

This initiative the federal government to work out ways of tackling the problem of high house rents and advance payments, particularly in major cities across the country.