Lagosians have nothing to fear about monthly rental Policy, Says Benson-Awoyinka
Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Housing, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka has disclosed that landlords and house owners have to cause to fear concerning the new monthly rental policy that will kick off in January 2022.
She made this clarification while answering questions from Castles correspondent against the backdrop of a recent announcement made by the governor of the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the just concluded 2nd Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibitions held in Lagos at Eko Hotels and Suites.
According to Benson-Awoyinka, the landlords and house owners have their rents guaranteed as they are going to be paid their rents as at when due as long as their properties are well insured and are in habitable condition.
She said, “I can assure you that landlords have their rents guaranteed and are going to be paid their yearly rents as at when due without fear as long as their properties are insured and in habitable condition.”
Corroborating her, Lagos State Commissioner for finance, Dr. Rabiou Olowo, said that what made policy important is because of its impact on the society. “We did a rental experience survey and we found out that 88 per cent of Lagosians would rather pay their rent monthly. At that point, we felt that it was an important policy for the Lagos government to conceive and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu immediately keyed into it. The solution will create resilience throughout Lagos. It is going to bring a lot of relief for tenants.
“We worked with lots of stakeholders, including landlords, tenants, lawyers, financial institutions. We came up with a fit of purpose structure that would enable us to launch a monthly rental model in Lagos. As part of putting it together, we have gone through a lot of risk analysis and risk evaluation to look at how it would work. We have met with a lot of stakeholders like: Landlords, tenants, lawyers, agents, we have financial institutions and we also have technical advisers that will come up with a purpose structure that will enable us to launch a monthly rental model in Lagos.
Answering questions on the Lagos State government’s agenda on housing for in the coming year 2022, Mrs Benson-Awoyinka said there will be more provisions of affordable housing and completion of all existing uncompleted housing projects.
” There is going to be more provisions of affordable housing and completion of all existing uncompleted Housing projects in the state. Also, we will have more collaborations with private sector initiatives on bridging the Housing deficit in Lagos,” she said.
