Rental values plunging despite inflation – Expert

An Abuja-based estate surveyor and valuer, Adamu Kasimu, has debunked the claim that rent is rising in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Kasimu who noted that at the moment rental values were dropping despite the inflation in the country, said “Everything today has gone up except rent.”

Kasimu, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), FCT chapter, who spoke to Daily Trust, said rents had not gone up for quite some time now, insisting that they had even dropped nationwide because the effective demand for some of them had plunged.

He explained that, “We cannot say this is largely because of the economy tenants are not able to pay their rents as at when due. Managers of properties can reveal that now they even accept payment in bits unlike in the past where rents were paid two to three or even five years in advance. Now it is difficult to see properties that attract two years advance rent because capacity of tenants is being eroded by the economy.

“That is why there is a lot of default, go to any of our law courts for proof, you will notice that 90 of proceedings are connected to rental default.

“For example, rents in Kubwa, a suburb of FCT, are generally the same with what obtains in the town itself, but in Bazango area of the same Kubwa, rents are a little bit lower. So it depends on the market, which are classified according to location and property type.”

He further said spendable income was a great determinant of ability to pay rent, hence that where income or purchasing power was low then it affected rent.