Yusuf Oketola
RESIDENTS of Osogbo and Ikirun in the State of Osun have attributed the hike in house rent to the flamboyant life being lived by internet fraudsters known as yahoo boys in the state.
Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that between January and May this year, there have been arbitrary increment on house and shop rents by landlords in Ikirun and Osogbo, a situation that does not go down well with current and prospective tenants.
It was noted that the property owners are using the standard of yahoo boys to measure financial strength of the tenants and other people seeking accommodation.
The medium learnt that the yahoo boys do not price down house rent and other charges when they want to get accommodation.
Some tenants who spoke with the medium yesterday decried the arbitrary increment, saying it was coming at a time people were feeling the fangs of hard times in the state and the country at large.
Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER, a resident of Ikirun, Mr. Banji Abraham, said he had been paying the sum of N60,000 for a room and parlour for the past five years, but the caretaker notified him recently that the rent has been increased to N120,000.
He said: “For the past five years, I have been paying N60,000 annually as house rent for a room and parlour in my area, but to my surprise this month, I got a notice from the caretaker that the rent has been increased to N120,000 which is 100 per cent increment.
“All the tenants in other apartment were also given notice of increment of the house rent. We appealled to the landlord to reduce it but he didn’t, blaming it on the economic situation of the country.
“I wonder why house rent in ikirun is now becoming unbearable for the tenants in our community.
“You can’t imagine that a standard two-bedroom flat which was N270,000 has been increased to N300,000 and a room apartment of N120,000 to N170,000. Ikirun is not Lagos or Osogbo, the state capital.
“The hike have forced some tenants to vacate and move into their uncompleted buildings and why those that doesn’t have are still battling with the situation.
“Property owners are increasing the house and shop rent because of the money which these yahoo guys are paying them. Rather than making things affordable and comfortable for their tenants, the landlords will want to drive them out to give accommodation to yahoo boys.”
A resident of Osogbo, Mr. Hamzat Kolawole, also stated that the internet fraudsters are major factor for increment in the the house rent.
Kolawole stressed that yahoo boys do not care of how much the rent is, in as much as they have the money to pay instantly.
He said landlords and caretakers prefer letting their houses to Yahoo boys because most of them do not stay long in their house.
“Accommodation fee is now unbearable in Osogbo as we speak. Yahoo boys have made everything so difficult for the average residents of the state capital. The issue is that landlords and caretakers prefer to give their accommodations to the yahoo boys because of money.
“More so, many of these guys do not stay long in such house before they move out. So, the landlord and caretakers have the chance to give out the house to someone else”, he said.
Kolawole urged the government to intervene in what he described as extortionate tendencies of the landlords and caretakers in the state.
