Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has advised young workers not to feel pressured into renting expensive apartments, suggesting they could live with parents, relatives, or share accommodation while building their finances. He made the remarks during a question-and-answer session on Nigeria Info FM on Thursday, responding to concerns about how young workers on low incomes can cope with rising accommodation costs in Lagos.
Hamzat was answering a question about how a 22-year-old earning ₦100,000 monthly could afford a self-contained apartment or mini-flat costing about ₦1 million annually. He said young people should choose accommodation that reflects their income rather than feeling compelled to immediately rent a home they cannot comfortably afford.
Cultural living arrangements and shared housing
“Don’t let us misunderstand ourselves as a people. We are cultural people. Do you understand? So, if I start work as a young person and I’m not married, a lot of us live with our parents. A lot of us live with our cousins,” Hamzat said.
He also pointed to shared accommodation as another option for young workers trying to reduce housing expenses. He added that young people should not feel compelled to start their working lives by renting the most expensive accommodation available to them.
“You know, go to Turkey, for example, and see how young people also live,” he said. Hamzat added that people should start with accommodation they can afford and gradually move to better housing as their financial situation improves.
Rent should not exceed 40% of income
The deputy governor also said Nigerians should avoid spending too much of their income on accommodation, arguing that rent should leave enough money for other basic needs. He specifically placed 40% of income as the upper limit, saying anything above that would put too much pressure on a person's finances.
“In fact, if you spend more than 40 per cent of your income on rent, it is too high because you must eat, you must buy clothes, you must do transportation,” Hamzat said.
His comments come as housing costs continue to put pressure on workers and families in Lagos, where tenants often face substantial upfront rental payments.
Mortgage financing as a path to home ownership
Beyond renting, Hamzat said Lagos needs to make it easier for residents to eventually own homes through mortgage financing. He argued that Nigerians cannot continue to rely on paying the full cost of a property at once, particularly given the high cost of housing.
“But, you know, the challenge is we cannot continue to buy houses the way we buy rice and yam. Do you understand? So, we must buy properties using a mortgage, and that’s why we have a mortgage board in Lagos,” he said.
He said the state uses the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) number to help establish a resident's identity, address and place of work as part of assessing their ability to access housing finance.
Hamzat also gave an example of a property costing ₦7 million, saying a buyer could make a 10% initial payment of ₦700,000 and spread the remaining cost over 10 years. “Some people pay ₦25,000 monthly or ₦35,000, whatever it is, depending on your income,” he said.
He said a mortgage model would make home ownership more realistic for people who cannot afford to pay for a property in one instalment. “That is the way to go because we know that a lot of people will not be able to afford to pay a one-shot deal,” Hamzat said.
Start small and save for better housing
The deputy governor also encouraged young people to begin their housing journey with smaller properties and work towards better accommodation as their income and savings grow. He said young workers could start with a one-bedroom apartment or self-contained accommodation, depending on what they can afford.
“But the bottom line is, like I said, the culture of ability to save, so that if people see that you can save money, then I can give you a property,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be, if you are a young person, you can start with one bedroom or even a self-contained, like you explained.”
However, Hamzat acknowledged that telling Nigerians to spend less on housing does not, on its own, solve the country's affordability crisis. He said the broader economy must improve so that workers earn enough to cope with rising living costs.
“What is important is we must also build our economy in such a way that people earn better, you understand, so that everybody can be uplifted, and that is the bottom line,” he said.
He added that stabilising the economy and making prices more predictable would make it easier for Nigerians to plan their finances. “The cost of buying things is what we need to fix first, and then when we fix that, which is what the Federal Government is doing now, then we’ll be able to talk a lot more about other pillars that stop on top of that,” Hamzat said.
Hamzat's remarks therefore went beyond advising young Nigerians to live with their parents or share accommodation. His broader argument was that housing choices should reflect people's incomes, mortgage financing should become more accessible, and the economy must create better-paying opportunities if housing is to become genuinely affordable.
