Concerns over high cost of rent in students dominated areas in Kano

There has been incessant increase in rent in students-dominated areas in Kano State with students worried about why they have to pay so much for smaller apartments even more than those in choice areas of the state.

The high cost of rent in these areas, which are mostly dominated by students, has been a bone of contention for several years now. Many students find it very difficult to pay the rent, even as they battle with paying too much for their studies amidst the economic hardship facing the country.

Accommodation is one of the basic needs of students either in a hostel or off campus. However, it has become a serious challenge to students in Nigeria, as most tertiary institutions do not have enough accommodations to house all the students that have been offered admission.

As one of the basic necessities required by every human, students need comfortable accommodations in order to have smooth study as it affects their output a lot. Failure to have conducive accommodations can destabilize their academic performance, many of the students told Daily Trust Saturday.

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In Kano, the rate of rent in Danbare, a community around the new site of Bayero University Kano (BUK) which is known to be the home to thousands of students studying at the university, has been described by students as alarming, even as the rates keep rising day by day. The area was formerly dominated by natives of the area who are now forced to move backward as a result of the development the university brought to the locality.

As a result of students’ desperations to stay in these areas because of proximity to their institution and a quest to live together with fellow students, the owners keep hiking the price every year, students said. The high demand is further fuelled by the fact that landlords and caretakers are taking advantage of parents’ preference that their children stay around the school which they believe will boost their academic performance, coupled with adequate security.

Findings by Daily Trust Saturday  revealed that student accommodations in Danbare which are basically a single room with a kitchen and toilet inclusive range from N100,000 to N250,000. In other areas in Kano, Daily Trust Saturday gathered that such a room goes for as low as N40,000 to N80,000 per annum.

“The only reason I stay here is because it is close to school and I can’t afford to pay the transport fee to come from town which is much better because houses there are cheap and have many facilities. The rooms here are small and without any special features, they are usually empty without a wardrobe or light, etc. Despite all these, they go for N150,000,” Tina Oche, a student at the university, said.

Another student of the university, Aaron Gabriel, said “The high rent we pay is not worth it because these landlords and agents are not doing anything when it comes to light or good drainage system in the area. There are no extra benefits that equate with the high prices that the landlords or caretakers are charging.

“Our bathing water flows out of the compound and during the rainy season, the roads are usually very bad that you won’t be able to go out; you will even regret why you paid that amount for something that is not worth it, but what is the alternative?”

The high rent in areas where students live is not limited to BUK, as students in other tertiary institutions in Kano are also lamenting the same situation. However, their presence also attracted business investments in the areas which ushered in the construction of plazas and shopping malls.

A student of the Federal College of Education (FCE) lamented the high cost of rent, adding that they also spend much to purchase water, pay for electricity and other daily needs of life.

“I spend N400 every two days in buying water in a house I pay N120,000 for, because the borehole in the house is damaged and the landlord or caretaker will not fix it. We are being neglected; there is no light, and no maintenance culture in the house. If anything spoils, they ask you to fix it.

“They lack good manners and don’t have any personal relationship with us. They are not concerned about our welfare, the only time they show concern to their tenant is when our rent is due and we need to renew,” the student, who asked not to be named, said.

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that landlords charge higher rents because the students who do not like to stay in hostels have limited choices, and for those who were not able to secure hostel accommodations, the alternative is only the communities around the school, in order to save on extra cost for transportation as well other advantages that proximity to the school offer, including access to libraries and study groups with other students.

It was also gathered that aside from demand, another factor responsible for the comparatively high rent in these areas is what estate managers called short lease periods, as student areas in Nigeria often have shorter lease periods than regular residential areas. This is because most students only need accommodation during the academic year and vacate the properties during the holidays. As a result, landlords charge higher rent to compensate for the shorter lease period.

A developer around BUK, Umar Abubakar, blamed the rent increase on the amount they purchase lands in these areas.

“Areas where there is a higher institution of learning is more expensive than normal areas, the natives of these lands usually give out the land for sale at a high price because of the presence of the institution,” he said.

He added that “costs of materials required to build a house are very high and the prices are on the rise daily. For example, the cost of cement, sand, stone, and tiles are all on the rise. We also paint before we rent these houses out. We don’t pick all these materials from the ground, we pay for them and we use high-quality materials in our building which cost a lot of money.”

Another real estate developer, Ahmad Kabir Ahmad, said it is normal for house rents to increase from time to time, considering the high cost of materials used in building the house.

He said most times, they get the materials at a higher rate due to the high cost of purchasing. In many instances, he said some building materials go hand in hand with dollar price and that has affected the entire business.

Proffering a solution, Ahmad said in as much as the demand would not reduce and the students would not consider other areas not necessarily close to the schools, it would be difficult to bring down the prices to the same rates in other areas.

“People should also embark on developing other areas. If all of the developers will merge in one place, especially in the campus areas, the places will be congested and expensive. What should be done is to have alternatives and other developers should build somewhere else,” he said.