“Soaring Rents Push Nigerians to the Brink as Two-Bedroom Flats Average N2.5m”

Nigeria’s rental market is facing one of its toughest moments in decades, with the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment now pegged at about N2.5m annually. This marks a dramatic rise from just a few years ago and underscores the mounting affordability crisis squeezing millions of households.

From Lagos to Kano, Ibadan to Port Harcourt, tenants are battling escalating rents that vary widely across locations. In Benin City, modest two-bedroom flats can go for as low as N250,000, while luxury units in Lagos’s highbrow areas now command up to N20m per year.

The focus on two-bedroom apartments is deliberate—seen as the “middle ground” for young professionals, families, and middle-income earners. However, even this category is increasingly out of reach. In Abuja, for instance, rents range from N1.5m in Karu to N10m in exclusive Maitama and Asokoro, reflecting sharp disparities driven largely by location, infrastructure, and demand.

In Ibadan, once considered affordable, rents have doubled within three years, with landlords introducing service charges and sometimes auction-style rent hikes. Ogun State mirrors the Lagos spillover effect, with workers flocking to nearby towns like Opic where two-bedroom flats now cost between N2m and N2.5m. Enugu, Uyo, Port Harcourt, and Kano tell similar stories of surging rents shaped by income levels, infrastructure, and cultural preferences.

Experts say the crisis is structural, worsened by inflation, currency depreciation, and soaring construction costs. “This is not landlords exploiting tenants; it’s the ripple effect of rising costs across cement, steel, fittings, and labour,” explained Ayodele Olamoju of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.

Beyond costs, the chronic housing deficit and absence of rent control laws have worsened the situation. “Salaries are not rising at the same pace as rents, leaving families vulnerable and forcing many into overcrowded or substandard housing,” added estate surveyor Olorunyomi Alatise.

Stakeholders are calling for urgent interventions, including mass housing projects, incentivised long-term leases, promotion of local building materials, and government-backed rent regulation. Without such measures, experts warn, Nigeria’s housing affordability gap will continue to widen, deepening inequality and pushing decent shelter further out of reach for the average tenant.