Lagos Assembly Moves to Cut Agency Fees by Half — Advocacy Groups Call for Anti-discrimination and Data-Protection Safeguards

…bill would cap agent commissions, regulate evictions and now faces calls to tackle discrimination and protect tenants’ data

The Lagos State House of Assembly has proposed a sweeping overhaul of tenancy law that would, among other measures, cut the maximum agency fee on annual rent from the common 10 percent to a statutory cap of 5 percent.

The Lagos State Tenancy and Recovery of Premises Bill, 2025, was the subject of a one-day public hearing on Wednesday, August 13, at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja. Organised by the House Committee on Housing, the hearing drew lawmakers, tenant advocates, estate agents and civil society organisations.

Speaker Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa — represented at the hearing by Hon. Stephen Ogundipe — said Section 3(4) of the draft law makes it an offence for any property agent to charge more than five percent of a year’s rent as commission. Violators, he said, would be required to refund any excess, and could face penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of ₦1 million.

“A commission or agency fee in respect of any tenancy shall be agreed upon by the agent and the landlord or tenant who engaged the agent, and the amount shall not exceed 5% of the amount paid as one year’s rent,” the draft provision states.

Responding to a Deepening Housing Crisis

Obasa framed the proposed reforms as a necessary response to worsening housing pressures in Lagos. He told the hearing that the state’s housing deficit has grown by 15 percent in less than a decade — from 2.95 million units in 2016 to an estimated 3.4 million in 2025. With more than 70 percent of Lagos residents living in rented accommodation and many households spending between 40 and 60 percent of their income on rent, the Speaker said the bill aims to reduce exploitative costs and provide clearer rules for tenancy.

“The legislation will set out rent payment structures, property maintenance obligations, dispute-resolution mechanisms and lawful processes for recovery of premises,” Obasa added.

Protections, Procedures and Practicality

Hon. Ege Olusegun Adebisi, Chairman of the House Committee on Housing, said the draft bill is comprehensive — divided into four parts with 45 clauses — and seeks to balance the rights and duties of landlords, tenants and agents. Key features include formalised dispute resolution, clearer maintenance responsibilities, and detailed eviction procedures designed to prevent arbitrary displacement that can destabilise households and small businesses.

“These safeguards are essential for the stability of households and businesses across Lagos,” Adebisi said.

Civil Society Demands: Tackle Discrimination and Protect Data

Beyond fees and eviction rules, civil society representatives used the hearing to press for broader tenant protections. Patrick Allan, Legal Officer at Space for Change NGO, urged lawmakers to explicitly guard against discriminatory rental practices, noting that properties are sometimes informally “reserved” for preferred categories of tenants.

“Houses are not, and must not be, reserved for certain categories of persons — excluding single mothers, single persons, or people from particular tribes is discriminatory,” Allan said, pointing to Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on grounds including sex, religion and ethnic origin. “The bill should take care of this particular challenge.”

Those outcomes would represent a major shift in Lagos’s rental market — one that could reduce up-front costs for tenants, create clearer legal recourse in tenancy disputes, and introduce new compliance requirements for agents and landlords. The Assembly is expected to review inputs from the hearing before returning the draft bill for further consideration and eventual voting.

For tenants like the many Lagos residents spending the bulk of their income on rent, the combined reforms — lower agency fees, anti-discrimination language and stronger data protections — could deliver more than financial relief: they could provide dignity, security and recourse in an increasingly precarious housing market.