Lagos Tenancy Bill 2026: Not Law Yet. What It Proposes and What Still Applies

Is there a new Lagos tenancy law? No

As at 4 October 2026, the Bill has not been passed. It passed second reading on 10 July 2025 and was sent to the House Committee on Housing. A bill becomes law in Lagos after a third reading on the floor of the House and the Governor's assent, or a two-thirds override by the House if assent is withheld, and it then needs to commence. We found no report of a third reading or assent. Absence of a report does not prove it has not happened, so confirm enactment and commencement from official legislative records before relying on anything in it.

The government has said the same thing more than once. In May 2025 the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing described a viral "updated tenancy law" as false and said the existing law was still subsisting. At the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa in May 2026, the housing ministry said the Bill was at committee stage. In late September 2026, WithinNigeria published a correction noting that it was not accurate to present the proposal as a new tenancy law.

So the position is simple. The Tenancy Law of Lagos State 2011, consolidated in the Laws of Lagos State 2015 as Cap T1, is the operative law. Anyone telling you a different rule now applies should be able to point to an assented law. If they cannot, treat the claim as a proposal at best.

What the Bill proposes, as reported

The following summarises the House of Assembly's published 2025 draft, checked against its text, with points from reviews by Premium Times and the law firms Templars and OAL marked as reported. These are proposals, subject to amendment, enactment and commencement. Read them as the direction of travel, not as rules.

• It would apply across Lagos State, removing the 2011 Law's exemption for Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. Employer staff housing and certain institutional accommodation would stay excluded unless let out commercially
• Advance rent: no more than 3 months from a sitting monthly tenant, and no more than 1 year from a sitting yearly tenant or a new tenant
• Penalty for receiving or paying excess advance rent: a fine of N1 million or 3 months imprisonment
• Estate agents must register with LASRERA, and the agency fee, agreed with the landlord or tenant who engages the agent, is capped at 5% of one year's rent
• Agents must remit rent collected to the landlord within 7 working days, unless the landlord directs otherwise in writing
• Self-help eviction, including lockouts, removing roofs and cutting utilities, is an offence carrying a fine of not less than N1 million, or up to 6 months custodial or non-custodial sentence, or both
• Landlords must account for service charges every 6 months and refund security deposits at the end of the tenancy, less documented repairs or sums owed, as reported
• Tenants can still challenge an unreasonable rent increase in court, with no fixed percentage ceiling
• Possession claims would go by originating summons, with a hearing to be fixed within 14 days after the time for a reply expires. That is a hearing date, not a promise of judgment or eviction within 14 days
• Where rent is in arrears for the prescribed period, a 7-day notice to recover possession, without first serving the full notice to quit, as reported
• A tenant suing a landlord must first give 30 days written notice and show that rent is up to date, among other conditions in the draft

What the 2011 Law requires today

Much of what is being sold as new is already in the 2011 Law. The difference the Bill would make is mostly in scope, penalties and procedure, not in the basic obligations.

Advance rent. A landlord or agent may not demand or receive more than 6 months rent in advance from a sitting monthly tenant, or more than 1 year from a sitting yearly tenant. From a new tenant, the limit is 1 year. The tenant may not offer or pay more either. A person who receives or pays rent above these limits faces, on conviction, a fine of N100,000 or 3 months imprisonment.

Notice to quit. Where the agreement says nothing about notice, the defaults are 1 week for a tenant at will, 1 month for a monthly tenant, 3 months for a quarterly or half-yearly tenant, and 6 months for a yearly tenant. If the tenant stays after the notice expires, the landlord serves a further notice of intention to recover possession of at least 7 days before going to court. A fixed term that has run out needs no notice to quit, only the 7-day notice. For quarterly, half-yearly and yearly tenancies the notice need not end on the anniversary; it may end on or after the date the tenancy expires.

Receipts, deposits and fees. The landlord must issue a rent receipt showing the date, the parties, the premises, the amount and the period. Security deposits and service charges need a separate receipt, and the tenant is entitled to a written account at least every 6 months of how that money was spent.

Rent increases and self-help. Unless the tenancy agreement provides otherwise, an existing tenant can already ask the court to declare a rent increase unreasonable, and may not be ejected while that case is pending. Forcibly ejecting a tenant, or threatening them to make them leave, is already an offence, with a fine of up to N250,000 or up to 6 months imprisonment, or a non-custodial disposition.

Where the Law does not apply. Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island are exempt, as is certain institutional accommodation such as staff and student housing, shelters and hospitals. In those cases other applicable laws and the tenancy agreement govern, including how possession is recovered. Confirm with a lawyer how any of this applies to your property before you serve anything.

Today under the 2011 Law vs if the Bill passes as reported

This table compares the law in force with the House of Assembly's published 2025 draft. The right-hand column is not law, and the final text may differ.

Myths vs reality

Most of the September posts took a real clause from the Bill and either presented it as law or stretched it. Here are the ones we see repeated most.

• Myth: Lagos has a new tenancy law. Reality: the Bill has not had a third reading or assent. The 2011 Law applies
• Myth: no landlord can collect more than 3 months rent in advance. Reality: even in the Bill, 3 months applies only to sitting monthly tenants. Yearly and new tenancies stay at 1 year
• Myth: rent increases are now capped at a fixed percentage linked to inflation. Reality: neither the 2011 Law nor the Bill as reported sets a percentage ceiling. The test is whether a court finds the increase unreasonable
• Myth: agents can now only charge 5%. Reality: 5% is a proposal in the Bill. It is not yet enforceable
• Myth: tenants have only just gained the right to challenge a rent increase or ask how a deposit was spent. Reality: the 2011 Law already provides a court application against an unreasonable increase, unless the agreement provides otherwise, and a written account of deposits and service charges at least every 6 months
• Myth: until the Bill passes, self-help eviction is fine. Reality: forcible ejection and harassment are already offences under the 2011 Law

What landlords, managers and agencies should do now

Comply fully with the law that exists, and get your records into a shape that would survive the Bill if it passes. Do not rewrite tenancy terms around a proposal, and do not tell tenants that a proposed rule binds them.

Much of the Bill's direction is already the law or good practice: the 2011 Law already requires receipts for rent and a separate, six-monthly account of deposits and service charges, and prompt remittance by agents and a clean record of notices served are good practice. An agency already doing those things will have little to change if the Bill is assented.

• Check current advance rent practice against the 2011 limits, not the Bill's
• Issue a receipt for every rent payment, with the period it covers
• Give separate receipts for deposits and service charges, and prepare the 6-monthly written account
• Serve notices using the default period for the tenancy type unless the agreement sets one, and keep proof of service
• Never lock out, cut utilities or remove roofing to recover possession
• If you are an agent, confirm your LASRERA registration and review how quickly you remit to landlords
• Note which properties fall in Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi or Victoria Island, because their position would change most if the Bill passes
• Confirm anything that affects a live dispute with a lawyer before acting

How Ledge helps

Both the 2011 Law and the Bill come back to the same thing: proof. Proof of what was paid and when, proof of what notice was served, and proof of how a deposit was spent. Ledge is property management software built for Nigeria, and that record-keeping is what it does.

Every payment ties to a tenant, a property and a period, and receipts are issued automatically. Tenancy notices are drafted with the parties and premises filled in from the record, and Ledge keeps a record of what was served and when. It does not work the notice period out for you: you set the expiry date, so check it against the tenancy type first.

None of this is legal advice. It is the evidence layer underneath whatever your lawyer does next, and it stays useful whichever way the Bill goes.

• Rent payment history with dates, amounts and balances for every tenant
• Automatic receipts for payments tied to a tenant, property and period
• Lease records tied to units, tenants and billing periods
• Tenancy notices drafted from the tenancy record, with a record of what was served and when
• Automated rent reminders with a digital trail
• Expense and fee tracking for transparent landlord reporting