Founder of Fair Housing, Ayodele Adio, has accused the Lagos State government of failing to respond to the deepening housing crisis, warning that working and middle class residents are being pushed out of the housing market by soaring rents and unchecked luxury developments.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Adio said the government’s response to the housing emergency does not match the severity of the problem confronting residents across the state.
“To be fair, there has been no response at all, let me be quite honest with you, and I find this a fundamental betrayal of this generation, especially my generation.”
Adio argued that housing in Lagos has shifted from being treated as a public good to a tradable commodity, a change he attributed to the priorities of successive administrations.
“There has been a fundamental shift from how the current administration, because it’s a party that has been in office for the last 24 years, has viewed our housing away from public good into a commodity that you can solely trade.”
Adio stressed that the crisis is no longer limited to low income earners, noting that working and middle income households are now bearing the brunt of rent increases.
“The reality is that working and middle income people are now having the short end of the stick without an ability to cope with the rent hikes, and are living at a time where it becomes almost impossible for people in my generation to own a home in Lagos State.”
He said the focus on public private partnerships has largely benefited luxury housing, leaving most residents excluded.
“They have focused exclusively on public private partnerships that drives exclusively luxury housing across the state, and has sort of excluded a majority.”
He described the situation as a betrayal by a political class that previously benefited from social housing and public services.
“That, I repeat, is a fundamental betrayal of this political class that enjoyed social housing and all of the public services that were rendered to them in the 1970s and perhaps the 1960s.”
Warning of wider social consequences, Adio said prolonged exclusion from housing ownership could fuel deep frustration among young people.
“We are likely leading to that situation again, at a time where there’s a sense of hopelessness around young people, seeing that all of their income has to go into just spending on food, electricity and housing, and are incapable of doing anything else.”
He added that the lack of access to land and property removes a key pathway to economic stability.
“Property, land and property, is the most important engine for wealth creation and prosperity. And when you exclude people out of that, what you have done is to remove the ladder upon which they are supposed to climb.”
Adio also addressed the contrast between struggling residential markets and the continued growth of luxury developments in Lagos and Abuja, explaining that luxury housing operates within a global speculative market.
“Luxury housing actually is a global market. So you’re not selling necessarily to just locals within an economy or within a country.”
He noted that many high end developments remain unoccupied.
“Sometimes when you drive past many of them, they are empty. And the reason they are empty is because they are speculating.”
According to Adio, cities that prioritise affordable housing impose higher taxes on vacant luxury properties and require developers to include affordable units.
“Once you get the rights to build these luxury homes or estates, you also have to include within those developments a sizable amount of units that can be affordable for working people.”
Adio highlighted the financial strain on salaried workers, pointing to the imbalance between income and housing costs.
“You would imagine that if you earned, as a young person, 500000 Naira in Lagos is a decent salary. But the average two bedroom flat within the metropolis is about 4 million Naira.”
He said this leaves little room for basic living or long term planning.
“You can’t even afford to get married. You can’t even afford to send your kids to school.”
Outlining Fair Housing’s advocacy efforts, Adio said the organisation is pushing for rent controls and sustained investment in social housing.
“I’m advocating for a series of laws that will cap home prices for a significant period of time and ensure that there’s significant investments going into social housing.”
He argued that rent increases should be tied to inflation.
“Rents have to be tied to inflationary income. There’s no basis upon which rents will travel faster than inflationary income.”
Adio also called for stricter regulation of short term rentals and commercial activities in residential areas.
“We have to raise taxes on Airbnb in residential areas and limit the amount of commercial and active ventures happening in residential areas.”
He stressed that resolving the crisis requires political will and policy driven solutions.
“It’s a political solution. Many of these things that we’re advocating have to be pushed by political class. I take the working class very seriously.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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