How young workers can manage rising rents in Lagos — Deputy Governor

The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, has told young workers how they can manage rising rents in the state.

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 20227 polls gave the advice on Nigeria Info FM on Thursday.

Dr. Hamzat, on the Question and Answer segment of the programme was asked how a 22-year-old earning N100,000 monthly could afford a self-contained apartment or mini-flat costing about N1 million annually.

He said when starting out, young workers should consider living with their parents, relatives, or sharing accommodation rather than renting apartments they cannot comfortably afford.

He advised that young people should choose housing based on their income and financial capacity, particularly at the early stages of their careers.

Hamzat said: “Don’t let us misunderstand ourselves as a people. 

“We are cultural people. 

“Do you understand? 

“So, if I start work as a young person and I’m not married, a lot of us live with our parents. 

“A lot of us live with our cousins.

“You know, go to Turkey, for example, and see how young people also live.

“So, if you don’t start from the top self-contained.

You don’t start from the top. 

“You start from the average depending on.

“In fact, if you spend more than 40 percent of your income on rent, it is too high because you must eat, you must buy clothes, you must do transportation.”

Hamzat said the state was pursuing a housing strategy centred on mortgage financing to make home ownership more accessible to residents.

He argued that buying homes through one-off payments was unrealistic for many Nigerians, adding that Lagos has a mortgage board to support residents who could demonstrate their ability to repay housing loans.

He said: “But, you know, the challenge is we cannot continue to buy houses the way we buy rice and yam. 

“Do you understand? 

“So, we must buy properties using a mortgage.

“And that’s why we have a mortgage board in Lagos.

“So, that’s why we said people must have LASRRA (Lagos State Residents Registration Agency) number so we can know that okay you live in Lagos. 

“This is where you live. 

“This is your address. 

“This is where you work.