29th December, 2011
The lingering violence in Jos has shot up house rents in the Southern part of the city, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
NAN correspondents, who went round the city, report that rents had skyrocketed in many settlements in the southern part of the town as more people were relocating there from the crises-prone Northern part.
At Rantya, for instance, a two-bedroom flat that used to cost N150,000 per year has gone up to N250,000, per annum.
A three-bedroom apartments, which hitherto cost N200,000, is now between N300,000 and N400,000.
A one-bedroom flat, hitherto rented at between N80,000 and N100,000, now goes for between N150,000 and N180,000.
At the New Abuja, a fast rising settlement, the situation was the same as a one-bedroon apartment, which went for N70,000 early this year, is now N150,000.
A two-bedroom apartment in the area, which used to be N150,000, is now N250,000.
NAN learnt that the situation is worse with shops whose rents had more than doubled in the last few months.
Mr Ezekiel Panmun, a Landlord at Rantya Low Cost, located in the South of Jos, told NAN that the estate agents always suggest the increments.
“They (agents) knock my door everyday and want to know if there are vacant rooms. Where there is, they reject the amount you require.
“Normally, they can assure you of a customer for any amount they suggest.â€
According to him, a two-bedroom flat at the low cost settlement costs N300,000 per year.
NAN reports that most residents, depending on their religious beliefs, see places like Angul-Dee, Ray-field, Hwolshe, Anglo Jos, Kufang and Dadin Kowa as ‘’safe heavens’’.
Other settlements considered safe include Rantya, New Abuja, Sabon Barkin, Bukuru Low Cost and Zarmaganda, among others.