The Cross River State House of Assembly has resolved to ban housing agents accused of fueling arbitrary rent hikes across Calabar and beyond, urging swift legislation to regulate the sector and restore balance for tenants.
The resolution emerged Tuesday during a plenary session sparked by a motion of urgent public importance from Davies Etta, the lawmaker representing Abi State Constituency.
Etta painted a grim picture of the housing crisis, decrying "unreasonable, unprovoked, and economically destabilizing" rent surges that have turned basic shelter into a luxury for ordinary Cross Riverians.
"Buildings erected over two to three decades ago and many with leaking roofs, faulty plumbing, and poor drainage, are now rented out at outrageous rates," he lamented, citing stark examples: a self-contained room on Marian Road fetching up to N1.5 million annually, one-bedroom flats in Calabar South going for N800,000 to N1 million, and two-bedroom units in upscale areas like Parliamentary Extension or State Housing commanding N2 million or more.
Etta spotlighted the role of housing agents in advising landlords to slap instant eviction notices on non-compliant tenants and demand upfront payments often two years' rent in advance exacerbating hardships for civil servants, students, and small business owners already reeling from 34% national inflation and stagnant wages.
"Cross Riverians are crying for help as landlords, often on the advice of house agents, raise rent prices on old and dilapidated properties without any justification," he said, branding the trend "heartless, economically destabilizing, and socially dangerous."
He called on the Assembly to enact a comprehensive regulatory framework for property rentals, empower the Ministry of Housing to monitor practices, and slash costs for locally produced building materials to ease the broader affordability crunch.
Speaker Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem hailed the motion as "timely and people-centred," reaffirming the 10th Assembly's pledge to legislate for direct citizen impact.
"This Assembly belongs to the people. We will continue to stand with them to create balance, fairness, and affordability in housing across Cross River State," Ayambem declared, emphasizing a level playing field between landlords' rights and tenants' dignity.
The House unanimously backed the ban on agents and directed committees to fast-track bills, with enforcement hinging on the Ministry of Housing's oversight though specifics on timelines or penalties remain pending executive buy-in from Governor Bassey Otu.
The decision resonates amid a nationwide housing squeeze, where urban rents have ballooned 50-100% in the past year, per real estate trackers, displacing families and fueling informal settlements.
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