Is Nigeria pricing out the youth from affordable housing?

DW (English)

In cities like Abuja, young Nigerians are increasingly unable to afford decent housing, despite numerous government initiatives. Annual rents range from ₦400,000 ($262) to ₦25 million ($16,391), depending on location and apartment type. Experts say urgent government regulation is needed to address the crisis.

Transcript

00:00I've been staying with a friend for weeks, so I decided it's time to move out.

00:04I am young, I have a job and I work remotely, but that does not even mean getting a decent

00:09apartment in Abuja would be any easier.

00:11Today, I have an appointment with a housing agent.

00:14I will be checking some houses around the Lubbe area in Abuja, so wish me luck.

00:19It took me hours to reach the first apartment in Lubbe, one of Abuja's few relatively affordable

00:25carriers.

00:26The agent showed me a one-bedroom unit in the Federal House and Estates.

00:30How much is this under?

00:32How many bedrooms?

00:33This is actually one bedroom.

00:34And this is the fallow.

00:35This is the bedroom.

00:36We have the bedroom here and we have the toilet here.

00:37So it's paid for 1.8 million.

00:38The total package?

00:39That's the yearly rate.

00:40I don't know.

00:41I don't know.

00:42I don't know.

00:43I don't know.

00:44I don't know.

00:45I don't know.

00:46I don't know.

00:47I don't know.

00:48I don't know.

00:49I don't know.

00:50I don't know.

00:51I don't know.

00:52I don't know.

00:53It's the first apartment is out of my budget.

00:54I will need to check another.

00:55It cost me at least 10,000 Neewa.

00:56That is nearly 6 euros for each appointment with an agent.

01:09With high heat unemployment, this end housing feels more like a luxury than a basic neewa.

01:18This is what over 2 million Naira gets you in a suburb in Abuja.

01:24No taroge, erotic power supply and definitely no peace of mind when there is no security.

01:29I've been trying to find a place I can afford and honestly, this is exhausting at this point.

01:35What really drives most of the rents in Abuja is other charges that are start rates.

01:41Because when you pay the rents, they will ask you for caution fee and service charges.

01:46And in the legal documentation you pay for, which is legal fee and agency fee and so on.

01:51So those things accumulate the rents to be much higher than what the protective tenet is paid to pay.

02:02I am not alone in the search for a new house, a decent and affordable one.

02:07A lot of young people are stopped, moving back in with family, clubbing money together with

02:11a total stranger to share an apartment, living far from work, just giving up.

02:16So the struggle is real.

02:18Like, you need to meet one agent, meet the other agent.

02:21And as you are meeting them day by day, you keep spending money, it's not as if it's free.

02:26You understand?

02:27So at the end of the day, you might see a house that you like and you might not like the education.

02:31So I did not find a place this week.

02:33I surfed a lot, talked to a lot of agents, did a lot of calculating and I'm still back where I started.

02:39But I know I am not alone.

02:41So many young Nigerians are going through the same thing.

02:44Working.

02:45Hustling.

02:46Trying to move out and move up.

02:48Sadly, the housing market keeps locking us out.

02:51This whole thing has made me question what home even meets Nigeria.

02:54If I'm working and still can find a place, what about those who are not?

02:58I could do it and please do it.

03:06We are a challenge.

03:08It could take hold on...

03:09I can do it again!

03:10The price, it's indirect.

03:14It could take hold the house, though!

03:15Tell me if you're not to blame.

03:18Until me in the way.

03:20I keep going!

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