Nigerian Govt Reveals Plan to Help Salary Earners Rent Payment, Stop Landlords From Collecting Advance Payment

Nigerian Govt Reveals Plan to Help Salary Earners Rent Payment, Stop Landlords From Collecting Advance Payment

  • The Nigerian government is discussing a plan to help Nigerians find solutions to rent payment
  • Fashola, who is leading this call, is worried that many Nigerians are finding it difficult to have a roof over their head despite having a job
  • Landlords, especially in big cities, have made it mandatory to collect advance payment

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced efforts to make it easier for employed Nigerians to pay their rent.

Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, gave the indication while speaking at a forum in Abuja on Monday, August 1 2022

The Punch reports that he promised to find a solution that challenges the current status quo from landlords demanding yearly payment.

Fashola rent payment landlords
Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing Credit: presidency
Source: Depositphotos

In his speech, the minister noted that in order to address housing delivery challenges in Nigeria, access to mortgage finance needs to be addressed.

Read also

Nigerians' dollar funds are trapped in domiciliary accounts as bank managers tell customers to go home

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

He stressed that there is a need to find a way to help Nigerians pay their rents using their salaries.

He said,

“I concede that majority of the houses belong to the private sector and they expect legitimate income from rent for the properties.
"However, I hold a strong view that asking for two to three years rent in advance from working-class people (as distinct from corporate tenants who may prefer to pay in advance) does more harm than good to all concerned and to the economy.
“There must be something done to help people pay their rents via their salaries, especially the problem of two-three years rent payment demand by landlords in advance from tenants whose salaries come in arrears.’’

Fashola wants solutions to housing challenges

Fashola strongly believes that to address housing delivery challenges in Nigeria, access to mortgage finance needs to be addressed.

Read also

OPEC+ walks 'fine line' between US and Russia

The minister urged the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to work hand in hand with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation contributors’ fund like other commercial banks do.

He noted that it will really help in financing the mortgage of contributors since there was nowhere in the world that the government does 100% housing financing, the Vanguard reports.

He charged them to focus the retreat on better ways to serve the people saying that performance and repositioning were key to setting up the bank to provide housing services to the people.

Tenant shares letter he got from his late landlord's son

In another story, a Nigerian man with the Twitter handle @Kings2Oge showed the list of items and needs his late landlord's son demanded of him.

@Kings2Oge shared a photo of the letter asking him to bring N100,000, one goat, Igbo kola nuts, among others.

The man said that he was asked to bring those items as things accorded to him for the burial rites of the landlord.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.