LAGOS STATE TENANCY
LAW 2011.
I have been receiving
calls from my clients asking one or two questions on the new Tenancy Law of Lagos
State. Unfortunately i have not been able to give a definite answer as i had
not yet gotten a copy of the law. Though the bill was passed into law in August
2011, it took some time to get it into publication and thereafter circulation.
Luckily for me i was able to get a copy today. As a practising lawyer there is no end to reading and research. I have taken i quick glance at the
law, and i noticed the following, that the law does not apply to the following
areas:
1. Apapa
2. Ikeja
GRA
3. ikoyi
4. Victoria
Island.
Now i am wondering,
if this new law repeals the rent Tribunal Law of 2007, and at the same time excludes its application in Apapa, Ikeja,
Ikoyi and Victoria Island, then which law would be applicable in those areas?
Also what’s the
rationale behind excluding the four areas mentioned above?
The law recognises
mediation as a means of settlement see section 32 TL 2011, but does not provide
a solid frame work for enforceability of a mediation award. How practicable is this?
ADVANCE RENT!
Section 4 provides as
follows:
1. It
shall be unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from a
sitting tenant rent in excess of 6 months from a monthly tenant and 1 year from
a yearly tenant in respect of any premises without prejudice to the nature of
tenancy held at the commencement of the tenancy
2. It
shall be unlawful for a sitting tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of 1 year
for a yearly tenant and 6 months for a monthly tenant......
3. It
shall be unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from new or
would be tenant rent in excess of 1 year in respect of any premises.
4. It
shall be unlawful for a new or would be tenant to offer or pay rent in excess
of 1 yr in respect of any premises.
5. Any
person who receives or pays rent in excess of what is prescribed in this
section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a
fine of one hundred thousand naira (N100,000.00k) or to 3 months imprisonment.
one aspect i feel, the law failed to cover, is the issue of placing rental value on houses in various area, without this, the landlord is free to charge whatever he likes as rent for his house, thus at the end of the day, one wonders the positive effect of the one year rent.
what do i expect from Government! aside making all these laws? i expect that Government tackles the issue of housing for its citizens more effectively. we should have housing schemes spread around so that most people can have access to houses. i commend Jakande one of the ex governors of Lagos State, the man had foresight, his legacy with regards providing housing schemes remains unbeatable.
Housing for all is possible and it can be done. in the past so much funds was directed towards the stock market, when it crashed, we lost billions. those in the Oil and gas industry also enjoyed and still enjoy lots of loans, though most of them also crashed. the banks give loans only to industries that bring in fast money without considering their shortcomings. Housing is good investment, its hard to loose your investment in mortgage, only thing is that the loan is spread, to be paid in years. its that patience our banks and Government don't have. ours is a cash and carry kind of economy.
This is just a peep
into the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011, i shall however continue with my
analysis in my subsequent write up on this subject matter.
For practicing
lawyers there is a new EVIDENCE ACT 2011 and freedom of information Act 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment