The New Lagos Tenancy Bill (2026), Explained for Tenants

The short answer: Lagos State has unveiled a new tenancy bill that would cap estate agency fees at 5% of annual rent, ban landlords from collecting more than one year's rent in advance from new tenants, require registration of all agents with LASRERA, and criminalise self-help evictions. It is a bill, not a law — as of July 2026 it is still at committee stage in the Lagos State House of Assembly, and the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 remains the law that governs your tenancy today. This article explains what's in the bill, how it differs from the current law, and what it means for you if you're renting in Lagos right now.

One important note before we start: this is an informational explainer, not legal advice. If you're facing an eviction, a dispute, or a contract you're unsure about, speak to a lawyer or the Lagos State Citizens Mediation Centre.

What Is the Lagos Tenancy Bill, and Where Did It Come From?

In late May 2026, the Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, presented the state's plans to regulate rent hikes and estate agency fees at the annual Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa, Ikeja. The announcement, reported by Channels TV, put a spotlight on the Lagos State Tenancy and Recovery of Premises Bill — a draft law that had been working its way through the Lagos State House of Assembly since 2025 and passed its second reading before being referred to committee.

The government's stated motivation is straightforward: roughly 70% of Lagos residents are tenants, rents have risen sharply, and the fee stack around renting — agency fee, agreement fee, caution fee, "inspection" charges — has grown into a jungle of charges with no consistent rules. We've broken that fee stack down before in our guide to the hidden costs of renting in Lagos; the bill is essentially the state's attempt to prune it by law.

But — and this is the part many social media summaries skip — the bill has not been passed. As of the May 2026 briefing, it was still at committee stage, undergoing review and possible amendment before any third reading, passage, and assent by the Governor. Until all of that happens, the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 is still the law of the land. Anyone telling you "agency fees above 5% are now illegal in Lagos" is ahead of the facts.

What's Actually in the Bill

Here are the provisions that have been consistently reported by Premium Times, Channels TV, and law-firm reviews of the draft text. Remember: draft provisions can change in committee.

1. Agency fees capped at 5% of annual rent

The draft caps the commission an estate agent can charge at 5% of the annual rent. If your rent is ₦2m a year, the maximum lawful agency fee under the bill would be ₦100,000 — a far cry from the 10% (and sometimes 20%) that is common practice today. Agents would also be required to remit any money collected on behalf of a landlord within seven working days, with proper receipts.

Alongside the cap, the bill would make it mandatory for every estate agent operating in Lagos to register with LASRERA (the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority). Unregistered agents would be operating illegally — a big deal in a market where a large share of rentals are brokered by informal agents. If you'd rather sidestep the agent question entirely, see our guide on how to rent without an agent in Lagos.

2. A ban on demanding more than one year's rent in advance

This is the headline provision. Under the draft bill:

• Landlords and agents cannot demand or receive more than one year's rent in advance from a new or prospective tenant on a yearly tenancy.
• For monthly tenancies, they cannot demand more than three months' rent in advance.

Law-firm summaries of the draft report a penalty of a ₦1,000,000 fine or three months' imprisonment for violations. Notably, the 2011 law already prohibits demanding more than a year upfront — the bill's real change is sharper penalties and a stated intent to actually enforce. If a landlord's two-years-upfront demand is what's keeping you out of a place, our piece on monthly rent payment options in Nigeria covers the alternatives that exist today.

3. Rules around rent increases

The bill gives tenants a formal route to challenge unreasonable rent increases in court, and the court must consider the general level of rents in the locality when deciding what's reasonable. Crucially, a tenant cannot be evicted while such a case is pending.

On notice: the draft retains the notice structure tied to tenancy type — for a yearly tenancy, a landlord must give six months' notice to determine the tenancy (which is how large increases are usually forced through), and one month for monthly tenancies. So the "6-month notice" you may have seen in headlines is about yearly tenancies — it's not a new blanket rule for every rent increase, and it largely mirrors what the 2011 law already provides. Before you challenge or accept an increase, it helps to know what the market actually charges — our Lagos rent prices tracker and the Mushrooms Rent Index show real asking rents by area.

4. Caution fees, agreement fees and "documentation" charges

The bill tightens the screws on the miscellaneous fees around a Lagos tenancy:

• Security deposits (caution fees) must be refundable. The draft entitles the tenant to a refund at the end of the tenancy, minus documented costs of repairing actual damage to fixtures and fittings.
• Any charges demanded must be clearly stated in the tenancy agreement — no surprise fees at key collection.
• The party who engages a professional (e.g. the lawyer who drafts the agreement) is the one who pays their fee — undercutting the practice of billing tenants a fat "agreement fee" for a template document.
• Landlords or agents holding tenant money must provide a written account at least every six months of how it was spent.

5. Eviction protections

The bill criminalises self-help evictions — removing the roof, cutting off water or power, blocking access, or seizing a tenant's property without a court order — with reported penalties of up to a ₦1,000,000 fine or six months' imprisonment. It also sets up fast-track court procedures for tenancy disputes: hearings within 14 days of filing, virtual and weekend sittings allowed, and mediation capped at 30 days, so disputes don't drag on for years.

Bill vs the Current 2011 Law: Side by Side

Issue	Lagos Tenancy Law 2011 (current law)	Tenancy Bill (proposed)
Advance rent (new yearly tenant)	Max 1 year (already prohibited, weakly enforced)	Max 1 year, with ₦1m fine / 3 months' imprisonment
Advance rent (monthly tenant)	Max 6 months for existing monthly tenants	Max 3 months
Agency fees	Not capped by the tenancy law	Capped at 5% of annual rent
Agent registration	Not required by the tenancy law	Mandatory LASRERA registration
Caution fee	No explicit refund framework	Refundable, minus documented damage; 6-monthly accounting
Notice to quit (yearly tenancy)	6 months	6 months (retained)
Challenging a rent increase	Possible, but slow and rarely used	Explicit court route; no eviction while case is pending
Illegal eviction (self-help)	Prohibited	Prohibited, with clearer criminal penalties
Dispute speed	Regular court timelines (often years)	Fast-track: hearings within 14 days, 30-day mediation cap
Applies where?	Most of Lagos (with exempted areas like Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi, Victoria Island under the 2011 law)	Draft text still under committee review

The honest summary: the bill is less a revolution than an enforcement upgrade. Several of its most-quoted protections already exist on paper in the 2011 law; the new draft adds the agency-fee cap, agent registration, sharper penalties, and faster courts.

What This Means If You're Renting NOW

Because the bill has not been passed, nothing about your current tenancy changes yet. Practically:

1. Agency fees of 10% are still what you'll meet in the market. The 5% cap is not in force. You can still negotiate — our guide on how to negotiate rent in Lagos covers fees too — but you can't yet cite the bill as law.
2. A demand for 2 years' rent upfront is already contrary to the 2011 law for most of Lagos — you don't need to wait for the bill to push back on that. In practice enforcement is weak, so your leverage is negotiation and walking away, not the police.
3. Your existing rights are in the 2011 law: proper notice to quit (6 months for yearly tenancies), no eviction without a court order, receipts for rent paid. We've laid these out in full in Lagos tenant rights: what the law actually says.
4. Keep every receipt and get everything in writing. If the bill passes, provisions like the refundable caution fee and the 6-monthly accounting will only help tenants who have a paper trail.
5. The biggest risks the bill can't fix are fraud and fake listings — paying an "agent" for a flat that doesn't exist, or a "landlord" who doesn't own the building. That's a trust problem, not a legislation problem. It's why Mushrooms verifies listings and identity, and why we hold rent and fees in escrow until you've actually got the keys — the money only moves when both sides deliver. If you're dealing outside a platform, at minimum follow our checklist on how to verify a landlord in Nigeria.

The Other Side: What Landlords and Agents Say

Reforms like this always cut both ways, and it's worth hearing the counter-arguments, because they will shape what survives committee:

• Landlords and developers argue that annual (or multi-year) advance rent is how small landlords finance construction and maintenance in a market with expensive credit. Cap the upfront payment, they say, and some investors will exit rental housing or push rents higher to compensate — potentially worsening the supply shortage that drives prices in the first place.
• Agents point out that the 5% cap collides with how the market actually works: previous attempts to cap fees were widely ignored, because desperate tenants in a shortage will pay under the table. Critics also fear that many informal agents — a majority of the market by some estimates — will simply never register with LASRERA, creating a parallel unregulated market.
• Everyone asks the enforcement question: Lagos has had rules against multi-year advance rent since 2011 and agency-fee guidance for years, and both were routinely flouted. A law is only as good as its enforcement machinery, and the bill's fast-track courts and criminal penalties are an answer on paper that has yet to be tested in practice.

These aren't reasons to dismiss the bill — The Guardian's editorial called it "a chance to reset the rental market" — but they explain why passage isn't guaranteed and why the final text may differ from what was unveiled.

Where the Bill Stands, and What Happens Next

As of this writing (July 2026), the bill:

1. ✅ Was introduced in the Lagos State House of Assembly and passed its second reading
2. ✅ Was referred to the Housing Committee, where it sits under review — this is where public hearings happen and provisions get amended
3. ⏳ Must pass a third reading on the Assembly floor
4. ⏳ Must receive the Governor's assent to become law
5. ⏳ May then have a commencement date and implementation framework (LASRERA registration systems, court rules, etc.)

There is no announced timeline for passage. Until steps 3–5 happen, treat every "Lagos has banned agency fees" headline with suspicion.

FAQ

Is agency fee illegal in Lagos?

No. Agency fees are legal in Lagos today. The new bill proposes to cap them at 5% of annual rent, but it has not been passed, so there is currently no statutory cap under the tenancy law. The common market rate remains around 10%, and it's negotiable.

Can my landlord demand 2 years' rent in advance?

Under the current Lagos Tenancy Law 2011, it is already unlawful for a landlord to demand or receive more than one year's rent in advance from a new tenant (in the areas the law covers). The new bill keeps that one-year limit and adds a ₦1m fine or 3 months' imprisonment. In practice, enforcement has been weak — but legally, a 2-year demand is not something you're obliged to meet.

Is caution fee refundable in Lagos?

It should be. A caution fee (security deposit) exists to cover damage beyond normal wear and tear, and the proposed bill makes the refund explicit: you're entitled to your deposit back at the end of the tenancy, minus documented repair costs for actual damage. Protect yourself by documenting the flat's condition (photos, dated) at move-in and getting a receipt that names the payment as a caution fee.

How much notice does my landlord need to give for a rent increase?

There's no standalone "rent increase notice" statute — increases are typically imposed at renewal. What the law fixes is the notice to quit: 6 months for a yearly tenancy, 1 month for a monthly tenancy, under both the 2011 law and the draft bill. Practically, a landlord on a yearly tenancy who wants you out for refusing an increase must give 6 months' notice. The bill adds a route to challenge an unreasonable increase in court, with no eviction while the case is pending.

Is the Lagos Tenancy Bill now law?

No. As of July 2026 it is at committee stage in the Lagos State House of Assembly. It must still pass a third reading and receive the Governor's assent. The Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 remains the governing law.

Do agents have to be registered in Lagos?

Under the proposed bill, yes — all estate agents would have to register with LASRERA, and unregistered practice would be illegal. LASRERA registration already exists today, but it is not yet an enforced precondition for working as an agent. Until it is, checking whether an agent is LASRERA-registered is a useful screening signal, not a guarantee — verified listings and escrow do more to protect your money.

Can my landlord lock me out or remove the roof to force me out?

No — that's illegal now, and the bill would make the penalties clearer (up to ₦1m fine or six months' imprisonment). A landlord can only recover their premises through a court order, after serving proper notice. If it happens to you, document everything and report to the police and the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

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The bill's fine print may change in committee, but the trust problem it's responding to — fake agents, phantom listings, money paid with no protection — exists today. Mushrooms was built for exactly that gap: verified listings in Lagos, identity-checked landlords, and escrow that releases your money only when you get your keys. The law will catch up; you don't have to wait for it to rent safely.

Sources: Channels TV · Premium Times · Lagos House of Assembly draft bill · Lagos Tenancy Law 2011 (Gazette)

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Provisions described are from a draft bill and may change before passage.