The rent situation in Nigerian cities is not just dire; it has become a crisis intensifying uncontrollably, pushing many residents to the outskirts of the cities in search of ‘affordable’ accommodation.

For many of these residents, accessibility has been consigned to the garbage heap and affordability has become the new normal. Location is no longer the norm as was the case when the market belonged to the buyer or renter. It is now the landlords’ market, and everybody is on the move, searching.

The movement, described as an exodus by close market watchers, is piling pressure on the city suburbs as areas that were known to be affordable to low-income earners have been invaded by the middle class on escape from surging rents in the city centres.

“Lately, we have seen unusual movement in the rental market; people are changing address and this is happening in droves,” Emmanuel Okeke, an estate consultant, confirmed to BusinessDay in a telephone chat at the weekend.

Continuing, he said, “the curious thing about the present movement is that those areas that were hitherto considered affordable for low-income earners are being ‘invaded’ by mid-income earners who can no longer afford urban rents.”

Okeke blamed inflation for the surging rent in the cities, explaining that despite the curious economics that dragged down inflation from 34.80 percent in December 2024 to 24.48 percent in January and 23.18 percent in February 2025, the impact of galloping inflation is still being felt everywhere, including house rent.

Besides inflation, supply shortage is also another strong reason for the crisis in the rental market as demand far outstrips supply. For its over 200 million population, Nigeria’s total housing stock is less than 50 million units. And for the 700,000 units which the country needs to build yearly for next two decades to close its 28 million deficit, total annual output is estimated at 100,000 units.

Before now, accessibility was a major consideration or determinant for the choice of location to live, but that idea has given way to affordability. In the present case, the suburbs provide the needed respite and options.

In Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, for instance, the locations in the suburbs serve as options for several factors, especially nearness to workplaces. Those working in Lagos Island and Victoria Island move to locations that are not far away from their workplaces.

Those places include Surulere, Gbagada, Isolo, Yaba, Ikorodu, Ketu, Bariga, and Mowe. Those who work in Lekki and its environs are moving to areas such as Lakowe, Awoyaya, Ikota, Victoria Garden City (VGC), and even to Epe.

Residents who make this shift usually find rent in the new places relatively cheaper or lower. A recent survey reveals that whereas rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the suburbs goes for N450,000 -N600,000, the same size apartment in the urban centre goes for between N1 million and N2.5 million. This however depends on the age of the house.

Similarly, a three-bedroom flat with one-room boys’ quarter in a good location in Lekki phase 1, for instance, goes for as high as N10 million to N15 million per annum.

In Ikoyi, an exclusive, highbrow location on the Island, the same size apartment could rent for as high as N25 million to N40 million per annum. On the contrary, rents for similar houses in the suburbs will hover between N2.5 million and N4 million per annum.

In Port Harcourt, the Garden City, tenant-movement is also on the rise. BusinessDay findings show that more city residents are moving to places like Igbo-Etche, Oyigbo, Iriebe, Eneka, Igwuruta, Omagwa, Choba, and Eleme.

The rent for a two-bedroom flat in those suburbs is in the region of N400,000 to N500,000, while in the city centre, it is about N1 millionto N2.5 million, depending on location.

The story is not any better in Abuja, the federal capital, where BusinessDay gathered that rising population and urbanization have conspired with inflation to push many residents to not only to the outskirts, but also as far as the city’s border towns in Nasarawa State.

Though the rent crisis in Nigeria is a huge social and economic challenge to many households in the country today, analysts say there is a positive side to it in terms of investment in rental properties in those areas where mid-income residents are moving to.

They note, however, that low-income earners are faced with extremely low purchasing power, which has been eroded almost completely by the inflation ravaging every sector. “They are faced with the enormous challenges of allocating their earnings to payment of house rent, school fees, feeding, transportation, energy, security, and medical bills.

“But, for the mid-income earners, the purchasing power is still there. So, a good market dimensioning along with appropriate pricing are all a savvy investor needs to hit the opportunity and get good yield in those locations,” Festus Onunkwo, a real estate market analyst, advised.

He pointed out, however, that the government needs to play its part by providing the environment that enable investors to look in that direction. According him, there must be first and foremost, good network of roads that will connect the suburbs to the city centres.

“With good road infrastructure that can connect communities seamlessly, people can live in Epe or Badagry and commute to work on the Island—Ikoyi or Victoria Island. That has the added advantage of decongesting the city centres,” Onunkwo said.