By Musa Kutama, Calabar
The Cross River State House of Assembly has vowed to introduce legislation that will regulate property rental and leasing in the state.
The House recommended that the state government, through its Ministry of Housing, should direct and regulate the activities of landlords and estate agents. The House has also taken proactive measures towards reducing the prices of building materials produced within the state.
The House had deliberated on a “Matter of Urgent Public Importance” concerning unreasonable hike in house rents, which was sponsored by the Member representing Abi Constituency, Rt. Hon Davies Etta, who noted with dismay, the high cost of rents in Calabar metropolis.
Presenting the matter during plenary on Tuesday, Hon. Etta who is also the Deputy Leader of the 10th Assembly, stated that
“Cross Riverians have been wailing and crying for help regarding the unprovoked and unreasonable increments in house rents.”
Etta lamented that “a single self-contained room on Marian Road now goes for N1.5 million per annum. In Calabar South, a one-bedroom apartment costs between N800,000 and N1 million. In Parliamentary Extension, State Housing and CICC areas, tenants are being requested to pay #2 million or more for a one bedroom or two bedroom flat.
“This unregulated rental inflation is not only heartless, it is economically destabilising and socially dangerous. It breeds homelessness, desperation and urban inequality, contradicting the principle of fairness and exposing the urgent need for legislative intervention,” Etta grumbled.
He also observed that, even in places like Akpabuyo, rents are very expensive for the average citizen, and therefore called on his colleagues to look into the matter.
In his Contribution to the debate, the Member representing Calabar Municipality, Hon. Stanley Nsemo, emphasized the need to regulate rents as well as the activities of estate agents in Calabar metropolis, adding that the situation requires urgent government intervention.
Other Lawmakers in their unanimous support of the matter, noted that housing is no luxury but basic human right and that the 10th Assembly which is totally people-oriented, will strive to balance the rights of landlords with the dignity of tenants.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, who restated the 10th Assembly’s commitment to making laws that will make life easier for the citizens, commended the sponsor of the bill and Members for their concern towards the well-being of the citizens.
He eiterated that the incessant increase in house rent is putting untold hardship on Cross Riverians and hinted that the House will soon commence the legislative procedures for a law to regulate house rents across the state.
