Opinion: Your house rent is too high? Here’s who’s really to blame, by Jennifer Odii

Editor’s note: In this piece, Jennifer Odii examines the forces down Africa’s lodging crisis, revealing however argumentation failures, marketplace manipulation, and unregulated agents, not conscionable landlords, are driving up rent

Let’s speech astir location rent. That fig that softly eats fractional your paycheck, wages, oregon salary. That monthly oregon yearly ritual of negotiation, panic, and fervent prayer. From Lagos and Accra to Monrovia. Rent is not conscionable high—it is present offensive. But earlier we clutch our pearls and blasted landlords alone, it’s clip to ask: who’s truly liable for this economical sabotage disguised arsenic housing?

Real property adept Jennifer Odii names the existent enemies of affordable lodging successful Africa. Photo credit: JulPo, Rawpixel
Source: Getty Images

The existent property pyramid scheme

First, let’s destruct the story of “greedy landlords” arsenic the lone villains. Yes, determination are landlords who complaint obscene amounts for glorified shanties and pigeonholes. But they’re conscionable the past nexus successful a greedy, long, and breached chain. The information is that the African lodging marketplace is simply a pyramid strategy that is supported by argumentation failures, crony capitalism, corrupt bureaucracy, a gathering materials situation near to fester, location agents operating extortionist schemes, and the manipulation of spot values that inflate your rent.

To physique a location successful Nigeria today, cement unsocial costs between ₦8,000–₦13,000 per 50kg container (approx. $8). In Ghana, gathering materials person jumped implicit 40% successful a year. In Liberia, the outgo of nails, roofing sheets, and timber is tethered to planetary currency swings. Add onshore speculation, precocious concern cost, aggregate taxation, mark-up of developers, deficiency of owe access, and mediocre infrastructure, and you’ve got a cleanable storm. The result? Fewer houses built, higher outgo to build, and an adjacent higher outgo to rent. This isn't conscionable economics; it's the interaction of a rigged strategy nary 1 wants to bash thing about.

The government’s affordable lodging lie

Every fewer years, we perceive astir the operation "affordable housing" tossed astir by authorities officials, developers, and donor agencies similar immoderate magic hole for Africa's municipality chaos. It shows up successful glossy brochures, and planetary summits arsenic if simply saying it makes it real. A shiny ribbon-cutting ceremony. A prototype flat. Maybe adjacent a astute metropolis announcement. But the rent connected these alleged “affordable” homes is often retired of scope for the mean income earner.

Consider this: In Nigeria, implicit 70% of the municipality colonisation lives successful informal settlements. In Ghana, lodging deficits hover astir 2 million. Liberia faces akin shortages. Meanwhile, the monthly minimum wage successful Nigeria is astir $18, successful Ghana it is astir $25, and successful Liberia it ranges from astir $70 (for domestic/casual workers) to $150 (for civilian servants). In Lagos, a alleged affordable level mightiness outgo ₦8 cardinal ($5,000) oregon more, erstwhile implicit 70% of the colonisation earns little than ₦120,000 ($75) monthly. In Accra, rental advances of 2 years are demanded upfront, efficaciously excluding astir citizens. So, who precisely are these homes affordable for?

The information is, African lodging argumentation is simply a mirage—full of headlines, devoid of existent access. The word "affordable housing" has go a smokescreen that allows governments to debar structural betterment portion offering photo-op solutions.

Investors’ manipulation of spot values that inflate your rent

But adjacent beyond the disposable failures of argumentation and economy, determination are hidden hands manipulating the market. Consider the investor, possibly idiosyncratic seeking to 'clean' questionable funds, who colludes with a developer to deliberately inflate the acquisition terms connected the authoritative receipt. The $30,000 spot is present listed arsenic $60,000 connected paper. Why does this hidden transaction substance to you, the renter struggling to wage $5,000 a year? Because that mendacious $60,000 fig past becomes the 'justification' for exorbitant rent demands.

The investor, having perchance laundered money connected the beforehand end, present demands a rental output based connected a lie. Your conflict to wage rent is, successful part, paying for idiosyncratic else's inflated insubstantial trail. This isn't conscionable marketplace speculation; it's a distortion of worth that straight lands arsenic a load connected the tenants.

The unseen manus of the middlemen: Agents' extortionist schemes

Adding insult to wounded is the furniture of exploitation introduced by unregulated location agents.

From fake “affordable homes” to greedy agents: Odii exposes the rent trap. Photo credit: fizkes, AscentXmedia
Source: Getty Images

Consider this: Since the opening of discussions astir "Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations" astatine the United Nations, galore from the African diaspora person sought to reconnect by visiting oregon adjacent surviving successful Africa. On 1 specified visit, an African American, [Names Withheld], decided to acquisition beingness successful Lagos. Connecting with agents done a friend, helium rapidly encountered a harsh world that thousands of section renters look daily. He was deed with demands for an exorbitant array of fees: ‘application fees,' 'inspection fees,' 'registration fees,' 'non-disclosure fees,' 'agency fees,' 'legal fees,' and 'caution fees.' The sum of these charges unsocial amounted to a staggering figure—in his case, perchance capable to screen astir a year's existent location rent for a antithetic tenant elsewhere successful Lekki, Lagos—just for the expected work of facilitating a transaction.

Some agents instrumentality wealth – innocuously labeled 'inspection' & 'application' fees from aggregate imaginable renters for aforesaid property, afloat alert lone 1 can perchance unafraid it. The others are near hanging, their scarce funds swallowed by often unwritten, "non-refundable" policies.

These agents are not conscionable middlemen; they person go gatekeepers of misery. They adhd unnecessary outgo to the process and nett shamelessly from those simply seeking shelter. There is nary terms control, nary certification requirement, and nary regulatory assemblage holding them accountable, leaving tenants susceptible to their schemes and adding different unjust furniture to the already exorbitant outgo of rent.

Who’s truly to blame?

We indispensable redirect our anger. Not conscionable astatine the landlords alone. But at:

• Governments that are perpetuating argumentation failures.
• Opaque onshore medication systems that substance spot speculation
• Developers who physique lone for the affluent and spouse with cronies for onshore grabs.
• Unregulated and extortionist schemes of location agents, preying connected tenants
• Banks and fiscal systems that garbage to make low-interest lodging concern tools.
• Those with platforms and resources who often stay soundless connected systemic lodging issues, focusing alternatively connected navigating the breached strategy for idiosyncratic gain.
• And yes, to renters too, who, retired of desperation oregon a deficiency of awareness, wage amerciable fees without protest, judge verbal agreements, and hesitate to study violations to absent oregon ineffective authorities.

Provocative solutions? Yes!

• Declare lodging a nationalist exigency with measurable targets, not slogans.
• Control worldly costs by supporting section manufacturing of gathering materials.
• Fix onshore medication to marque entree transparent, quick, and digital.
• Support cooperatives and assemblage onshore trusts to democratize lodging finance.
• Redesign cities to integrate agrarian migrants done mixed-income zoning and societal infrastructure.

Radical idea: Cap rental prices successful over-supplied municipality districts and incentivize landlords who little rent.

This is not a telephone for pity. It is simply a request for structural change. Because our location rent isn’t conscionable excessively high. It is simply a grounds of a failed economical and argumentation architecture. And if we don’t alteration the foundation, we’ll support rebuilding “expensive slums” with nicer names.

The rent is due. But truthful is justice.

Jennifer Odii is an entrepreneur and laminitis of Real Estate Stakeholders Support Initiative, wherever she champions women’s enactment successful the existent property industry, a traditionally male-dominated sector. She designs systems wherever existent estate, dining, and plan go catalysts for sustainable growth. She writes from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed present are those of the writer and bash not needfully bespeak the authoritative argumentation oregon presumption of Legit.ng.

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