The quoted rent is the smallest number
Somebody sends you a listing: two bedrooms in Ikeja, ₦3 million a year. You budget ₦3 million. Then the agent sends the breakdown and the number you actually need to move in is closer to ₦3.9 million — before you have bought a single curtain rail.
None of this is a scam. It is how Nigerian lettings have worked for decades. But it is almost never explained before you fall in love with the flat, and that asymmetry costs tenants real money every year. So here is the whole thing, in the order the money leaves your account.
The four fees that follow a Lagos tenancy
Beyond the rent itself, four charges turn up on nearly every Lagos letting. They are conventions rather than statute — which is exactly why they vary, and why it is worth knowing what each one is supposed to buy.
1. Agency fee — usually 10%
Paid to the agent who introduced you to the property and walked you through the inspection. Ten percent of the first year’s rent is the standard, dropping toward 5% on high-value lettings. It is a one-off: an agent who asks for it again at renewal is charging you twice for an introduction that already happened.
2. Legal or agreement fee — 5% to 10%
Covers drafting the tenancy agreement. If you are paying it, you should be receiving a signed copy of the document — with the rent, the term, the renewal terms and the caution-fee conditions all written down. A legal fee that produces no paperwork is just a fee.
3. Caution fee — refundable, in theory
A damage deposit, usually 10% of annual rent or a round figure. It comes back at the end of the tenancy minus the cost of anything you broke. “In theory” is doing work in that sentence: unless the amount and the deduction rules are in the agreement, and unless you have dated photographs of the flat on the day you moved in, you are relying on goodwill.
4. Service charge — annual, and separate
In an estate or a serviced block, this pays for security, waste disposal, common-area cleaning, water, and diesel for the generator. It is not rent, it does not go to your landlord, and it is the one number on this page that recurs every year and tends to rise.
Worked example: a ₦3,000,000 two-bedroom
Take a two-bedroom flat in a mid-market Lagos estate, advertised at ₦3 million per annum, with the fees at their common rates:
| Line | Rate | Amount | Recurring? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual rent | — | ₦3,000,000 | Every year |
| Agency fee | 10% | ₦300,000 | Once |
| Legal / agreement fee | 10% | ₦300,000 | Once |
| Caution fee | 10% | ₦300,000 | Refundable |
| Service charge | Varies | ₦250,000–₦600,000 | Every year |
| Cash needed on day one | ≈ ₦4,150,000–₦4,500,000 |
That is roughly 38% to 50% on top of the advertised rent, due in one movement, before you have paid for a moving van. Plan for it from the first day you start searching, not the week you find somewhere.
Service charge: the cost that never stops
Agency and legal fees hurt once. Service charge hurts annually, and it is the line most tenants fail to interrogate. Two questions are worth asking before you sign, and asking in writing:
- What exactly does it cover? Security, waste, water, generator diesel and common-area cleaning are typical. Diesel is the volatile one — in a block that runs generators heavily, service charge moves with the fuel price.
- Who accounts for it? A facility manager who produces an annual statement is a good sign. A service charge collected with no reporting is a number that only ever goes up.
For a serviced apartment, service charge can approach a third of the rent again. That does not make it bad value — a block with reliable power and real security is worth paying for in most Nigerian cities — but it has to be in your budget, not a surprise in month two.
What you can negotiate, and what you cannot
Nigerian rent negotiation is real, but it works on specific lines and not on others.
- Agency fee: sometimes. On a large rent, 10% is a big number for a fixed amount of work, and 5–7% is often achievable if you are direct and ready to commit.
- Legal fee: sometimes. Especially where the agent and the “lawyer” are the same office and the agreement is a template.
- Rent itself: yes, if the flat has been empty. A void month costs a landlord about 8% of the year’s rent. A unit that has been sitting for two months has already cost more than the discount you are asking for. Ask, politely, how long it has been available.
- Caution fee: rarely, and do not bother. You get it back. Spend the negotiating capital on the fees you never see again.
- Service charge: no. It is usually set for the whole estate. What you can negotiate is clarity on what it includes.
Can you pay monthly in Lagos?
Increasingly, yes — but understand what you are buying. Monthly and quarterly rent plans exist through some landlords and through rent financing companies, and they solve a genuine cash-flow problem. They are not free: you are effectively borrowing the year’s rent, and the cost of that credit is inside the monthly figure.
Under the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011, a landlord or agent may not demand more than one year’s rent in advance from a yearly tenant, or more than six months from a monthly tenant. The law excludes Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island, and two-year demands have not vanished from the market. Know the rule, and know that enforcing it means being willing to have the conversation.
Before you transfer a naira
Whatever the numbers turn out to be, the last five minutes before a transfer are the ones that matter:
- Get the full breakdown in writing — rent, agency, legal, caution, service charge, and the term. If a number appears after you have paid, you want to be able to point at what you agreed.
- Confirm who owns the property and that the person collecting your money is authorised to. See the documents you need to rent in Nigeria.
- Pay to an account in the landlord’s or the firm’s name, never to a personal account belonging to someone who describes themselves as “the caretaker’s brother”.
- Photograph everything on move-in day — walls, taps, sockets, the state of the kitchen. That is your caution fee insurance.
- Collect your signed tenancy agreement and the receipts. All of them.
Peacoqs listings show the total move-in cost alongside the rent, so the number you compare between two flats is the number you will actually pay. That is the whole point of putting it on the page.
Frequently asked questions
How much is agency fee in Lagos?
The market norm is 10% of the first year’s rent, paid once, at the start of the tenancy. On higher-value lettings — roughly ₦10 million a year and above — 5% is common, because 10% of a large rent is more work than the job is worth to argue over. Agency fee is charged by the agent who introduced you to the property, not by the landlord.
Is caution fee refundable in Nigeria?
Yes. Caution fee (also called a damage or security deposit) is refundable at the end of the tenancy, less the cost of any damage beyond fair wear and tear. It is usually 10% of the annual rent or a round sum set by the landlord. Get the amount, the conditions for deduction and the refund timeline written into the tenancy agreement — an undocumented caution fee is the single most commonly withheld payment in Nigerian renting.
What is the legal fee for when renting a flat?
It pays for drafting or reviewing the tenancy agreement and, where relevant, a deed of assignment. It is typically 10% of the annual rent, though 5% is increasingly common. You are entitled to receive the executed agreement you paid for — ask for your signed copy before you take the keys.
Can a landlord in Lagos ask for two years’ rent upfront?
Under the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011, it is unlawful for a landlord or agent to demand or receive more than one year’s rent in advance from a yearly tenant, or more than six months from a monthly tenant. The law does not apply everywhere in the state — Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island are excluded — and in practice two-year demands still circulate. This is general information, not legal advice; speak to a lawyer about your specific tenancy.