Nigeria's Capital Region Faces Housing Crisis Amid Rising Rents

Residents of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are confronting a deepening housing crisis as rents surge and affordable units become scarce. Tenants, especially civil servants and low‑income earners, report landlords demanding large upfront payments and annual rent hikes that outpace wages. Many families have been forced to relocate to satellite towns such as Kubwa, Lugbe, and Keffi, enduring long commutes to Abuja for work. The shortage is attributed to inflation, rapid population growth, high land and construction costs, limited mortgage financing and the absence of rent‑control regulation.

At the 20th Africa International Housing Show, Afriland Properties CEO Azubike Emodi warned that rising construction and financing costs, along with regulatory bottlenecks, are stalling large‑scale affordable‑housing projects across Nigeria. He called for a coordinated overhaul of the housing ecosystem involving governments, financiers, developers and policymakers to make new homes financially viable for the informal sector.