As soon as early 2025, the residents of Lagos will have one burden lifted off their backs because, by that time, their government will have worked out the final steps that allow Lagosians the room to pay monthly house rent instead of shouldering the rental responsibilities all at once.

With the economic hardship in Nigeria worsening by the day, the concern about gathering their annual rent, which they have to pay one time, has been top on the minds of people. Tragically, some landlords whom they rent from insist on collecting fees for a duration covering up to two years, which the law frowns against.

We all see what is being done in other climes, rents are collected monthly, says Miss Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing.

At a press briefing held at the state secretariat on Thursday, 29 February, she estimated that the policy should have been implemented before the end of the year, or by early next year. When this begins, she adds, it would be charged according to tenants’ earnings.

Before monthly rent payment becomes common behaviour, there would be a pilot phase within the public housing system. This pictures the Lagos State Government onboarding their workers to an easily affordable payment plan.

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From each worker’s salary, the city officials will know a system that suits them.

The good part about it is that we would be test-running it first within the public sector since we can ascertain how much everybody is earning, and once we see that it works in the public sector, we can now push it out to the private sector.

It is the traditional landlords that are holding everyone back when it comes to going along with the plan. Already, Lagos renters have access to housing that allows them to pay in bits or later, which is the sort of convenience the government is reaching for.

With Spleet, a co-living rental solution, there is a monthly, quarterly or annual payment term to fit your unique schedule, reads a snippet on their homepage. Several middle-class professionals have patronised them and similar platforms to get around the duties of combining a busy career with domestic chores.

So what happens is that Spleet provides a readily-made home, so all the renter needs to do is move in and enjoy flexibility both in terms of rent payment and the duration of their stay.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.