Lagos tenancy reform: what landlords, tenants and agents should expect

The Lagos Tenancy Bill 2025 formed part of a package of property reforms announced by the State on 10 July 2026. Read alongside the revised Fair Market Value schedule that took effect in May, the direction of travel in Lagos is clear: more documentation, more regulation of intermediaries, and less tolerance for informal arrangements.

Landlords should not wait for commencement to put their houses in order. The tenancies most likely to cause trouble are the ones held on nothing more than a receipt: no written agreement, no record of what the rent covers, no agreed notice period. Those are the files that become recovery-of-premises proceedings.

Tenants should keep every payment record and insist on a written agreement that states the term, the rent, what is included and how it may be reviewed. Agents should expect closer scrutiny of the fees they charge and the basis on which they hold clients' money.

We act for landlords, estate companies and tenants, and the advice is the same to all three: reduce the arrangement to writing now, while relations are good. It costs a fraction of a dispute.