Speeches

Signing Of The Tenancy Bill Of 2011

Aug 24, 2011 - Long before the Tenancy Bill of 2011 which is now before me for assent was concluded, it has generated a lot of debate and controversies.

This is not unexpected. The law speaks to the problem of the day, the provision of shelter in an affordable way for a growing and urbanizing city-state with a large population.

Some of the debates have raged about whether the law will work and what solutions it will offer to the Housing problem.

Before I assent to this law, I think it is important to restate its history. The law started life as an executive bill in our effort as a Government to find solutions to some prohibitive practices in the letting and leasing of insufficient residential accommodation.

You can imagine the kind of debates that the draft bill generated in the discussions and deliberations by an Executive Council made up of landlords, tenants and lawyers including myself.

I can only imagine how painstaking it must have been for 40 (Forty) members of the State House of Assembly, also made up of Landlords, Tenants and lawyers to reach a consensus.

By the time the bill got to public hearing stage, it had taken on a life of its own. Everybody was interested and I believe the law we have today has tried to accommodate as best as possible the public sentiment.

This is the character and representative essence of our democracy. This is the law our people want. To those who have started out therefore by arguing simply that it will not work and that Government cannot enforce it because there are not enough houses, my response is that maybe the efficacy of laws lie not only in the ability of Government to enforce them but more in whether they accord with people's expectation in such a way as to secure a largely voluntary compliance.

I am mindful of our housing challenge and remain committed to my electoral promises to do my best to alleviate it in a sustainable manner, through a mortgage backed housing policy.

It is true that this law will not on its own solve the housing problems, but it has the potential to radically alter our way of life for good and reduce the needless pressures that we put on ourselves that aggravates our consumer and living indices on a daily basis.

Let us ask the first question which is:- How did we get to the stage of demanding multiple years of rent in advance?

History will reveal that it was a simple reaction by landlords to the frustrations of recovering their premises promptly from defaulting tenants.

So they chose to collect multiple yearly rents in advance to mitigate the risk.

This law has done a lot to reduce and simplify the process of recovery of possession, dispensing with the need for personal service, simplifying the notice to quit and providing Alternative Dispute Resolution. So we have provided a solution to the cause of the problem. Why should the law then not work.

Furthermore, let us remember that property owners are privileged when compared to tenants. This law seeks change like it is done in all decent societies by asking the privileged to sacrifice a little to that the underprivileged can have a survival chance.

This is the reason why this bill has been commended even before it became a law. It seeks to protect the poor and under-privileged.

A society that cannot protect the underprivileged cannot protect the privileged.

Can we truly expect life to return to normal and expect corruption to disappear if we continue to ask for 2 – 3 years rent advance?

How many of our employers are paid their monthly salaries in advance, talk less of earning a year's salary in advance.

Has the time not come for us to change? Does the landlord really lose anything if the rent is paid as it falls due.

The truth is that the onus for change falls upon all property owners to lead from the front to make life bearable for those who do not own properties.

This is all we ask. I am certain that if we make this sacrifice, we will not regret it. Many things will change for better, price indices will move in a more affordable direction and we will be better for it.

On our part as Government, our commitment to affordable Housing remains a priority. In the next few weeks and months, more specific details of implementation that we are finalizing we be communicated.

To the glory of God therefore, it is my honour towards a more liberal housing regime to give my assent to law.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State