The Kogi State House of Assembly has moved to regulate tenancy arrangements in the state, including rent increases and agency charges, as part of efforts to promote fairness between landlords and tenants.
The proposed legislation, known as the Kogi State Tenancy Law 2025, is also seeking to regulate the activities of estate agents and provide safeguards for both landlords and tenants.
Speaking after plenary, the lawmaker representing Ankpa 1 State Constituency, Hon. Akus Lawal, said the submission of the public hearing report on the bill marked another step towards establishing a more balanced relationship between landlords and tenants in the state.
Lawal said the legislation became necessary following the sharp increase in house rents, which, according to him, had made accommodation increasingly unaffordable for residents.
He said the Assembly had identified several factors responsible for the rising cost of accommodation and was working to address them through appropriate legislative measures.
According to him, the bill would require all estate agents operating in the state to be registered through the Kogi State Ministry of Housing.
He said the measure would enable government to identify genuine agents, regulate their activities and also enhance security within the property sector.
Lawal said the bill would also address what he described as excessive agency and other charges imposed on tenants, noting that some tenants currently pay between 15 and 20 per cent in agency fees, caution fees and other charges.
He said the proposed law seeks to harmonise such charges to a single-use fee of less than five per cent, thereby reducing the financial burden on tenants.
The lawmaker further disclosed that the bill would seek to curb arbitrary increases in house rents by landlords.
He said landlords would no longer be allowed to wake up and increase rents indiscriminately without justification, particularly where there had been no corresponding improvement or renovation of the property.
Lawal, however, stressed that the proposed legislation was not designed solely to protect tenants, but would also safeguard the legitimate interests of landlords.
He said the bill contained provisions to address cases where tenants deliberately damage landlords’ properties or refuse to vacate premises after tenancy agreements had expired.
According to him, tenants who damage property would be required to ensure that such property is restored to an acceptable condition before vacating the premises, subject to verification by the landlord.
He added that penalties, including fines and possible jail terms, were being proposed for tenants found culpable of deliberate destruction of rented properties.
“As much as we are protecting the tenants, we are also obligated to protect the landlords, so that we can have a balanced relationship between the two going forward,” Lawal said.
He noted that the state government was also making efforts to increase the supply of housing units, particularly for civil servants, in order to address the imbalance between demand and supply.
Lawal said increased housing supply, coupled with effective regulation of the tenancy market, would help cushion the impact of rising rents and improve access to decent accommodation for residents.
The lawmaker expressed optimism that the proposed law, when enacted and effectively implemented, would bring greater transparency, accountability and fairness to the tenancy sector in Kogi State.
