Lagos Wants to Cap Your Rent Advance at One Year
The Lagos State Tenancy and Recovery of Premises Bill 2025 is still working its way through the Lagos State House of Assembly. Once passed, its provisions could reshape the state’s rental market. Housing Commissioner Moruf Akinderu-Fatai detailed the bill’s scope at a Real Estate Business Forum in Ikoyi on July 10, alongside other reforms already underway.
What Changes for Tenants
The bill caps advance rent, up to three months upfront for monthly tenancies, one year for annual tenancies. It also prohibits landlords from evicting tenants without a valid court order. The bill formally outlaws harassment tactics like removing roofs, cutting utilities, or altering properties to force tenants out. Tenants can also challenge rent increases in court, and landlords cannot evict them while that dispute remains pending.
What Changes for Agents
Estate agents will need mandatory registration with the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA). Practicing unregistered becomes a criminal offence. Agency fees are capped at 5% of annual rent, down from the common 10% or higher. Agents must remit collected funds to landlords within seven working days and provide receipts for every transaction.
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A Broader Reach Than the Old Law
Unlike the existing 2011 Tenancy Law, which excluded high-value areas like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Ikeja GRA, the new bill applies statewide. It covers both residential and commercial properties. Legal analysts note that many of these protections already technically existed under prior law, the real gap has always been enforcement, not legislation.
Why This Matters for Real Estate
This bill directly targets the practices driving Lagos’s affordability crisis, excessive advance rent, unregulated agency fees, and exploitative evictions. If enforced effectively, it could meaningfully shift bargaining power back toward tenants in one of Africa’s most expensive rental markets. If enforcement lags, as some analysts warn, it risks becoming another well-intentioned law that changes little on the ground.
Conclusion
Lagos has written strong protections into this bill. Whether tenants actually feel that protection will depend on enforcement, the same gap that undermined the 2011 law it’s meant to replace.
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