The Senate at its plenary session of Tuesday, 1 February 2022, passed for Second Reading, the Advanced Rent (Residential Apartments, Office Spaces, Etc.) Regulation Bill, 2022 (SB. 893). The Bill seeks to regulate the mode of payment of rent on Residential Apartments, Office Spaces, etc. in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Leading the debate on the Bill, the Bill sponsor, Sen. Smart Adeyemi (APC: Kogi) stated that the Bill aims to provide a legal framework which allows for a reduction in advance payment of rents from annual or bi-annual by tenants to three months, and subsequently monthly payments. He noted that the Bill offers an easy payment plan to Nigerians who do not own their houses and who most times, are exposed to the greed of fraudulent persons who present themselves as landlords.
Sen. Adeyemi explained that the Bill further seeks to:
- Protect underprivileged workers and tenants from any form of intimidation from house owners or landlords regarding rent payment.
- Provide a window of petitioning for any tenant mandated to pay rents above three months.
- Enable tenants pay the maximum advance payment of rent which is three months
- Curb corrupt practices in the civil service occasioned by the need to meet up with terms and conditions of yearly rent payment.
According to him, the Bill is necessitated as a result of the numerous complaints by residents in the FCT on the difficulty in meeting their housing needs due to the high cost and mode of rent payments. He further mentioned that the Bill, if passed into law, will address issues regarding the persuasion by house owners and landlords to collect annual or bi-annual rents in advance.
The Bill which was unanimously adopted, has been referred to the Committee on FCT for further legislative action.
