Tenants living in urban and sub-urban parts of Umuahia, Abia State capital, have expressed worry over the exponential rise in house rent in the city.
Reports said with the sharp increase, a two-bedroom apartment now costs between N600,000 and N800,000 per annum in most parts of the town, up from the rate of between N350,000 and N500,000 in 2023.
Also, it now costs between N800,000 and N1.3 million to rent a 3-bedroom apartment for a year, as against the 2023 rates of between N500,000 and N700,000.
One-bedroom apartments, which are usually scarce, are now being rented for between N250,000 and N450,000 depending on the site and facilities in them.
Also, single rooms in public houses popularly known as” Face-Me-I-Face You” are now in short supply, as landlords are “upgrading” to new structural and pricing patterns.
Besides the rent, tenants are also required to pay brokerage – agency fee – to the estate agent who sourced the property, as well as agreement fee to the landlord.
Both fees are calculated as percentage of the rent sum.
Apart from this, most landlords demand upfront payment of Caution Fees, to cover any property damage by the tenant within the tenancy period.
Reports said that new houses are springing up in parts of the city such as Umuobia, Agbama, Amakama Lodu Ndume estates.
Ditto Amuzukwu suburban and some other parts of Umuahia.
The trend is not restricted to residential buildings, as owners of shops and undeveloped lands have also increased their fees astronomically.
Curiously, the hike has not affected the demand, as most of the flats in the new houses are usually snapped up and occupied immediately after completion, especially by the youth population.
Some residents of Umuahia reportedly said the present economic condition in the country may not allow them to rent flats of their choice or even renew the rent of houses they are currently occupying.
The situation has seen some tenants relocating to the outskirts of the town and villages.
Mr. Jameson Uwakwe reportedly said he relocated his wife and four children to a village in Ubakala, Umuahia South LGA, after his landlord increased his house rent beyond his capacity.
While some of the affected tenants claim that “internet boys” are always ready to pay whatever landlords demand, others attribute the sharp rise to the greed of landlords and estate agents.
But defending themselves, some landlords in Umuahia claim that the high cost of building materials in the market, occasioned by fuel subsidy removal and forex crises, helped to push up the rent for flats and shops.
A landlord, Damian Sunday and another one who spoke under anonymity denied being greedy as being alleged by tenants.
“There will only be stability in the property sub-sector when stability is achieved in the economy, especially in the petroleum industry and Naira -Dollar crises.
Another landlord, Ogbo Agwu, said many traders and tenants whose properties were demolished in Lagos and Abuja have relocated to Umuahia, thereby raising the demand for houses.