If someone had told you that a random Lagos landlord can be the weapon fashioned against you, you wouldn’t believe it until you go house hunting.
“Sorry. The landlord said he doesn’t want single ladies.” If you’ve ever gone house hunting in Nigeria, especially Lagos, as a single woman, you must have heard this more times than you want to. This kind of statement suddenly became rampant and threw everybody off guard. Lagos landlords are not just notorious for exorbitant house rent. It’s almost as if they had a conference and have made it their mission to make single ladies homeless.
Nothing prepares you for how your marital status determines the way you are treated just because you are house hunting. Housing is already expensive. Adding marital discrimination or prejudice to the house hunting challenge is the absolute ghetto.
All you want is a decent apartment with good water and proximity to your workplace. How does being single make anyone less of a human being? Landlords want to know why you are not married, what kind of work you do, if you can afford the next rent, or who will be visiting you. This discrimination has women lying and doing weird things out of desperation. Let’s not get started on the people that don’t take single women seriously and pull off silly scams that insult your intelligence.
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Craziest House Hunting Stories
This is not an exaggeration or an experience only a few people can relate to. According to an article published by the BBC in 2021, “Landlords are biased against single women in Lagos’s notoriously crowded rental market. But there are ingenious ways to get around the problem.“
People share their experiences every other day, and four women shared their crazy house-hunting stories with us.
“I’m sick of the discrimination.” – Rachel, 32, Lagos
I spent almost a year searching for an apartment because agents kept rejecting me. Everything could be going well, inspection and all, but once they find out I am single, they either ghost me or tell me point-blank that the landlord doesn’t want a single woman. I was under so much pressure because I had exhausted the quit notice from my previous apartment.
I ranted to my friend on our way back from work one day when I joked about renting a husband. My friend is crazy. He posed as my fiance, and by the second inspection, I got an apartment I liked. Apparently, a woman with stable income is still not trustworthy until she has a man standing by her side.
“Went house hunting, but the landlady returned my rent.” – Nifemi, 29, Lagos
When one of the agents I was in contact with sent me videos of the apartment he wants me to check, I book an inspection immediately. It’s a lovely apartment in a gated community and is closer to a school I’ve been eyeing for my daughter. I was ready to pay immediately, but the landlady wants to meet me before I move in. I paid the rent and waited for her to get back from her trip.
I was making preparations to move out of my old apartment. One evening, she called me and asked that I send my account number for a refund. When I asked her why, she said she didn’t want to give her apartment out to a single mother. I was so pained. House hunting in Lagos is not for the faint-hearted.
Read Also: Who Controls the Footage? Women, Consent, and the Myth of “Private” Content.
“I got back from a trip and someone was already living in my apartment.” – Chiona, 28, Lagos
I thought it was a dream, or I was in the wrong apartment. I started apologizing to the stranger that opened the door to an apartment I thought was mine until last week. The “Can I help you?” threw me off. No, can I help you, giant with a tiny singlet? No joke. I returned from a 2-week trip, and my landlord had rented my apartment to someone else. The biggest joke is that this bastard denied ever renting the apartment to me. Do illiterates understand how receipts work? It’s one of those family properties where every child gets a flat and becomes the landlord. His family was so ashamed.
“I paid for a luxury apartment but ended up homeless instead.” – Ada, Owerri
In my defense, I was out of town and stuck in Abuja for work. I will not pay for an apartment I haven’t seen myself, but my friend vouched for this agent, and my landlord was threatening to throw my things out. So, I requested a virtual inspection. It was a 2-bedroom duplex close to the Civic Center estate, so I understood the price. He made a video of himself moving from room to room, showing me everything in the semi-furnished apartment. He even made suggestions of what I can retain and replace. I made the payment and even begged him to help me get someone to do a deep-cleaning of the apartment.
When I arrived with my luggage in the moving van, I didn’t see him waiting there for me as agreed. I couldn’t reach the agent anymore. I was grouchy because I was delayed, not knowing what was coming was bigger. The security guy eventually confessed to me that the apartment is not available for rent and that the owner was only considering converting it into an Airbnb. After much begging, I was able to get the contact of the owner and became the first customer of a business that hadn’t kicked off. It was a long walk to recovery that involved me being homeless for almost a month and a police case, but I got my money back.
