FCT residents decry high rent, demand tax on vacant houses

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed frustration over what they described as “skyrocketing house rent” in the territory.

The residents, who expressed the frustration in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, added that the development has impoverished many in the FCT.

The residents complained that a self-contained apartment is, at the moment, as high as N1 million, while a one-bedroom flat ranges from N2 million to N2.5 million, depending on the location.

They also complained that a two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats go for N2.5 million and N3 million respectively, and above.

The exorbitant rent, according to them, has impoverished many civil servants and other residents, whose rents are far above their annual income.

The residents said that the development had equally forced many of them to seek alternative accommodation outside the city, with negative consequences on transportation and productivity.

They blamed the arbitrary rent increase on lack of government regulation in the housing sector, adding that unoccupied houses also contributed to housing deficit in the FCT.

A civil servant, Mr. Michael Dauda, who described the development as “worrisome”, added that landlords were increasing rent without considering tenants’ financial ability to pay.

“I live in a two-bedroom flat in Gwarimpa at N1.2 million a year when the landlord suddenly hiked the price to N2 million.

“When I asked why, he simply said, ‘prices of things have gone up’, as if he just built the house,” he said.

Dauda called on the government to regulate rent in the FCT and other parts of the country to protect citizens from exploitation by landlords.

Another civil servant, Mr Musa Ango, told NAN that he opted to live in Suleja, Niger state, where rent is a bit low, but grappled with transportation and low productivity due to distance and fatigue.

“To get to work on time, I will have to leave my house around 5:30 a.m. and when I close, I spend close to two hours on the way before reaching home.

“This is stressful, and it is affecting my productivity.

“It is even more painful when I see so many unoccupied houses in Abuja,” he said.

Ango called on the Federal Government and the FCT Administration to enact laws that will allow imposition of high tax on unoccupied houses.

This, according to him, will force house owners to rent out their unoccupied houses.

A trader, Miss Favour Okibe said she was forced out of Lugbe to Zuba due to the hike in house rent.

Okibe said she had to relocate to Zuba because she could not get a self-contained apartment for N500,000.

“Agents kept calling N1 million and above for a self-contained apartment. This pushed me to Zuba, where rent is affordable,” she said.

Similarly, Mrs Ufedo David said that she worked in Central Area, but lived in Kwali to avoid high rent in the city.

“I have to go to where I can afford house rent, but this is with the sacrifice of spending hours to get to work,” she said.

David also called on the government to regulate the housing sector by placing a price tag on house rent to prevent house owners from hiking rent arbitrarily.

Responding to the issue, a landlord in Gwarimpa, Mr Joel Samson, attributed the development to the rising inflation in the country.

Samson identified other factors as increased costs for building materials, property maintenance, taxes, and insurance, which were transferred to the tenants.

He also blamed the development on limited supply of housing amidst high demand, making landlords to capitalise on it to make more money.

Also, Mrs Ngozi Emeka, a landlady in Jahi, said that she increased rents on her houses after making significant renovations and upgraded to the property.

“The economy is harsh on everybody, and we have to survive somehow,” she said.

On his part, a real estate developer, Mr Johnson Amos, noted that the government was not doing enough to regulate the housing market to protect tenants from the shylocks.

Amos acknowledged that unoccupied houses have exacerbated housing shortages in the FCT, stressing that some form of regulation would address the challenge.

When contacted, Mr Festus Adebayo, Executive Director, Housing Development Advocacy Network, an NGO, claimed that most unoccupied houses in Abuja were products of money laundering.

Adebayo agreed with the call for government regulation that would not only place high tax on unoccupied houses but also allow the government to confiscate houses built with unexplained wealth.

“We need to do more on property tax and not demolition. All the empty houses in Maitama, Asokoro and other areas should be taxed heavily.

“By the time the owners of the houses are paying heavy bills, they will be forced to rent them out,” he said.

Speaking on the issue, the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike attributed the rising cost of accommodation in the FCT to market forces.

Wike admitted that there was no regulation in place on house rents because the country is not running a socialist or communist system.

He, however, said that government would come up with some regulations, policies and programmes to ease the burdens of residents.