When can landlords increase rent?

Disagreements between tenants and landlords are not a strange phenomenon and as a result, there have been laws put in place to resolve such issues, especially in states like Lagos where two of such laws exist; Rent Control and Recovery of Premises Law of Lagos State (RPL) which is applicable in Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island and the Tenancy Law of Lagos State (TLL) which is applicable in all other parts of Lagos state.

The Rent Control and Recovery of Premises Law of Lagos State (RPL) provides that landlords can only increase rent once every two years and must give their tenants a written notice at least six months before the expiration of the current tenancy agreement. As a result of this law, a landlord cannot just randomly increase rent few weeks to the expiration of a tenant’s current rent and demand that they leave if they cannot pay, this is unlawful.

When a tenant receives the landlord’s notice of intention to increase rent, he may attempt to negotiate or accept the terms or refuse the rent altogether. If he refuses the rent, the landlord may take the lawful steps to evict the tenant from the premises. But it is important that a tenant be given the opportunity to consent to or refuse the increment and the notice of intention to increase rent must be given within adequate time.

The Tenancy Law of Lagos State (TLL) states that a landlord must charge rent that is just and reasonable in line with the market value of the premises. If a tenant believes that the proposed rent increase is excessive, he may apply to the court for an order declaring that the increase in the rent is unreasonable. The court will consider the application and determine the case based on some factors; general cost of rent in the locality or a similar locality; evidence of witnesses of the parties and any special circumstance relating to the premises in question

If the court determines that the increase is unreasonable, the court will make an order changing the rent to a specific amount. While the matter is being determined in court, the landlord cannot evict the tenant from the premises. See Section 37 of the Tenancy Law of Lagos State (TLL).

The relationship between a landlord and a tenant is a contract that involves mutual agreement of both parties. Therefore, the terms of a tenancy agreement must be fully agreed upon by the parties involved and every standard tenancy agreement must contain a clause called a Rent Review clause that spells out the method of initiating rent review (whether in writing or orally), timeline within which rent can be reviewed and percentage of the increase.

Although the law limits the landlord’s power to increase the rent of a property as he pleases, this clause has the potential to overrule the provisions of the law. The reason is because parties to a tenancy agreement enjoy freedom of contract, which allows them to be bound by whatever terms that both parties agree upon. If the rent review clause states that the landlord may increase the rent whenever and however he pleases, the clause would bind both landlord and tenant.

If your landlord increases your rent unlawfully, you should contact a lawyer and commence legal action against your landlord; the possible remedies that you may be entitled to include; an order of specific performance compelling the landlord to reduce the rent to a specified amount, damages if the tenant was unlawfully evicted in the process.

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