Landlords are increasingly struggling to secure and retain tenants in multi-tenanted residential buildings as rising rents, economic pressures and changing tenant preferences make occupancy rent more difficult to pay, while operators of short-let apartments and Airbnb homes are also counting the cost of damages inflicted on properties by temporary guest and occupants. LEADERSHIP learnt
Although short-let apartments can generate higher rental income than conventional annual tenancy, operators say the returns are increasingly being eroded by maintenance costs, power expenses, weak occupancy periods and costly repairs arising from the misconduct of some guests.
For landlords operating conventional rental properties, the challenge is equally significant as prospective tenants often struggle to meet rising rents, leaving some apartments vacant for prolonged periods while landlords continue to bear service charges, maintenance expenses and other property-related costs.
For Landlords and short-let operators across Lagos, keeping residential properties occupied is increasingly becoming a battle between earning rental income and absorbing the rising cost of keeping the properties habitable.
While landlords of conventional apartments are finding it increasingly difficult to attract tenants capable of paying rising rents, operators of short-let apartments are confronting a different problem in getting enough bookings to cover their running costs while dealing with damages, guest misconduct, reputational damage, utility abuse, and unchecked behaviour of guests and visitors.
In places such as Agege, Ogba, Ikeja, Magodo, Palmgrove and Ebute Metta, landlords with vacant apartments are increasingly being forced to negotiate rental fees with prospective tenants, particularly where several units in the same building become vacant at the same time.
A landlord in Ogba Mr. Tony Eruemulor who owns a multi-tenanted residential building, told LEADERSHIP that tenants were defaulting rent and he had made up his mind to sell off the house and relocate his family to Delta State.
He said some tenants were owing rents as far back as since 2024 noting that despite all efforts to recoup his rental income many have refused to pay while some tenants even had to take him to court.
According to him, prospective tenants have been coming to look for apartments but the defaulting tenants have refused to move out citing high cost of rent and overpriced apartments in Lagos corridor.
A property owner in Agege, Mr. Samuel Otabor similarly said vacancies could quickly become a financial burden because expenses on security, cleaning, repairs, waste disposal and other shared facilities continued whether or not all the apartments were occupied.
He said landlords were therefore caught between reducing rents to attract tenants and holding out for tenants willing to pay the asking price. The pressure is not confined to conventional annual tenancy. He said.
Short-let operators in areas such as Lekki, Ikeja and Victoria Island say the business can produce higher gross income than annual rent, but the money coming in does not necessarily translate into profit.
A short-let operator in Ikeja GRA, Mr. Benjamin Akodu said one of the biggest misconceptions about the business was that every night booked represented pure profit.
According to Akodu, a guest could pay hundreds of thousands of naira for a stay, yet a significant portion of the revenue could disappear into electricity, diesel, housekeeping, internet, security, maintenance and replacement of damaged items.
The operator said the situation became particularly painful when guests damaged furniture, pipe fittings or appliances, or smoked inside apartments despite clear restrictions.
Another operator in Opebi, Mr. David Ogunmola said some guests treated furnished apartments as though they were hotel rooms with no consequences for careless use.
According to the operator, cigarette burns on furniture, damaged curtains, broken fittings, stained mattresses/duvet and excessive cleaning requirements could turn what appeared to be a profitable booking into a complete loss.
The problem, operators said, was compounded by the cost of furnishing the apartments in the first place.
Chief Operating Officer of Deity Homes International Limited, Moyosore Badejo, who operates short-let apartments in Ikeja, Gbagada and Lekki, said profitability depended largely on occupancy and the ability of operators to keep operating costs under control.
Badejo said he targets revenue equivalent to two to three times the annual rent paid on each unit, based on an average of about 10 booked days monthly.
He, however, disclosed that power alone could cost operators about N20,000 daily when relying on public electricity and as much as N30,000 when diesel was required.
He added that internet subscriptions, housekeeping, security, repairs and other recurring expenses further increased the cost of running the apartments.
Beyond normal operating expenses, Badejo said operators also had to contend with damages caused by some occupants, including damage to furniture, fittings and other amenities provided to make the apartments attractive to guests.
He said some occupants smoked inside apartments despite restrictions, while others engaged in conduct that resulted in damaged facilities and additional cleaning and repair bills.
The initial investment required to establish a short-let apartment is also substantial, he said.
Badejo said furnishing a two-bedroom apartment could cost up to N6 million for a basic setup and about N10 million for a higher-quality package, while backup power infrastructure could require several millions of naira.
For operators, repeated damage to furniture, appliances and fittings therefore represents another drain on an already expensive business.
The pressure is even greater during periods of weak occupancy, when apartments remain vacant while rent, power infrastructure, security, internet subscriptions and other fixed expenses continue to accumulate.
In Ebute Metta, a property owner, Mr. Seyi Oshikomaiya, with conventional tenants said landlords were also feeling the effect of the wider squeeze on household incomes.
He said some prospective tenants were interested in his vacant apartments but could not raise the required rent of agency fees, legal charges and caution deposits at once.
According to him, leaving an apartment vacant was not an attractive option, but accepting a tenant unable to sustain the rent could create an even bigger problem later.
In multi-tenanted buildings, landlords also have to contend with the behaviour of different categories of occupants, particularly where short-let guests are accommodated alongside conventional tenants.
Another landlord in a multi-tenanted commercial building in Agidingbi area of Lagos, Mr. Wale Sowemimo recounted his ordeals to LEADERSHIP saying that two of his tenants took him to court when he served them quit notice to evacuate from the apartment.
Sowemimo explained that tenants are owing rents amounting to millions in Naira and he could no longer tolerate the excuses as the payment weren’t forthcoming.
He said I got my lawyers to serve them eviction notice and to also prompt them to pay up all outstanding rent bills before the date given to them. To my greatest surprise many of them didn’t comply to the notice given to them and they have been living rent free in my house. Worse still, they host indoor parties, host naming ceremonies and spend on frivolous things despite owing rent.
Sowemimo decried that annual rental services were married with irregularities in payment, high risk of defaulting tenants, several litigation cases leading to adjournments and postponed landlord/tenants court battles.
that rents were frequent movement of short-let guests could create concerns among permanent residents, particularly over security, noise and the use of shared facilities.
A Lagos-based short-let operator, Olufemi Odeyemi, told LEADERSHIP that guest misconduct had become one of the biggest operational risks confronting operators.
He said weekend bookings, particularly for birthdays, bridal showers and get-togethers, accounted for a significant proportion of property damage.
“People book a 1-bedroom for 2 guests, but 15 people will show up for a party. By morning, you meet broken glass tables, burn stains on the couch from shisha, missing towels, stained bedsheets, spoilt ACs vent, leaving doors open all night, and bathrooms clogged with wigs and wipes,” he said.
Odeyemi said he recently had to replace a 55-inch television that was smashed during a fight in one of his apartments.
He added that within the previous 30 days, he had repaired bulb fittings, replaced a chandelier and spent N280,000 to re-upholster a three-seater couch and replace duvets stained with palm oil and wine at a property in Lekki Phase 1.
In another case, he said occupants used the kitchen extractor to fry fish for about 20 people in a non-smoking, no-cooking apartment, leaving oil stains on the ceiling and forcing him to repaint the property.
The operator identified over-occupancy, unauthorised parties, inadequate insurance cover and utility abuse as some of the major risks confronting short-let businesses.
According to him, some guests leave air conditioners running for 24 hours with the windows open, while others use excessive water, increasing electricity and water bills for operators.
He also identified what he described as “reputation blackmail” as another challenge confronting operators.
“If you complain about damage, they threaten you with a 1-star review and say they’ll tell people your apartment is dirty. So many operators just absorb the loss,” he said.
He advised new investors not to be deceived by social media images showing fully booked apartments, warning that high occupancy does not necessarily translate into high profit.
Speaking on the development, Property Analyst and Chairman of the Association of Capital Market Valuers (ACMV), Chudi Ubosi, said the economics of property investment had become more complicated, particularly for landlords trying to balance rental income with the costs associated with maintaining their properties.
According to him, operators should budget a significant portion of their monthly revenue for maintenance, repairs and replacement of damaged items.
He noted that while annual tenancy had its own challenges, including rent defaults, difficult tenants and prolonged disputes, it generally imposed fewer day-to-day management responsibilities on landlords after suitable tenants had been secured.
According to him, short-let arrangements could generate higher rental returns, but the higher income should not automatically be interpreted as higher profit.
“In the end, especially in an unregulated environment like ours, short-lets offer more rent than annual rents, but landlords should be very prepared for the challenges that come with them,” Ubosi said.
He explained that the frequent turnover of occupants in short-let apartments meant that furniture, appliances, fittings and other facilities were exposed to greater wear and tear than properties occupied by conventional tenants.
Ubosi said landlords could therefore be compelled to spend heavily replacing or repairing damaged items, with such expenses capable of significantly reducing the additional income generated from short-term rentals.
He also warned that frequent arrival and departure of unfamiliar occupants could create friction in residential buildings, particularly where permanent residents were uncomfortable sharing their environment with temporary guests.
The growing number of short-let apartments is also intensifying competition among operators.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Edala Development, Temidayo Oloyede said the growing number of short-let apartments was increasing competition and putting operators under greater pressure.
“I always tell people that me and you can own short let in Lekki Phase 1 and perform better than you. Why? Because we are in the same market. It’s the quality of the person running the business,” he said.
Oloyede said the ability of operators to manage their properties efficiently, control costs and maintain service quality would increasingly determine who survives as competition intensifies.
His colleague, Samuel Olatunde, COO and Co-founder of Edala Development, said occupancy across the company’s properties ranged from about 59 per cent at the lower end to 80 per cent during peak periods.
He, however, cautioned against applying individual operators’ occupancy figures to the entire market, saying the absence of reliable industry-wide data made it difficult to establish whether Lagos’ short-let market had reached saturation.
The Lagos Short-let Market Report 2025 by Edala Development estimated that the sector generated N281.03 billion in 2025 and projected revenue of N285.5 billion for 2026.
The report also identified growing competition as more properties entered the market.
Despite the size of the market, individual operators still have to sell enough nights to cover their fixed and variable expenses.
Real estate Entrepreneur and Founder of Sisi Oni Dukia and Oni Dukia Limited, Kotun Oluwadamilola, said professional management had therefore become increasingly important in protecting property owners’ investments.
According to her, owning a property was only the beginning, as many property owners lacked the time and expertise required to manage guests, maintain apartments and oversee daily operations.
“Buying a property is only one part of the journey,” she said, stressing that professional management was increasingly important to protect owners’ investments and maintain guest satisfaction.
She added that successful short-let management went beyond handing over keys, requiring cleanliness, prompt communication, security and a comfortable guest experience.
The sector is also exposed to regulatory and community-related risks.
In February 2026, the Banana Island Property Owners and Residents Association prohibited short-let and Airbnb-style rentals within the estate, citing security and privacy concerns.
The development underscored the risk faced by investors who commit millions of naira to furnishing apartments for short-let use without first determining whether the relevant estate or community permits such operations.
For conventional landlords, however, the fundamental challenge remains occupancy.
Rising rents and pressure on household incomes can make it increasingly difficult to secure tenants willing and able to pay prevailing market rates, particularly in multi-tenanted buildings where several apartments may become vacant at different times.
The result is a changing residential property market in which landlords and short-let operators are increasingly being forced to look beyond headline rental figures.
For landlords, an apartment that attracts a high annual rent but remains vacant for months may ultimately produce less income than expected.
For short-let operators, a property that records impressive nightly rates can equally become unprofitable when weak occupancy, electricity, diesel, housekeeping, repairs and guest-related damages are deducted.
The real measure of profitability, therefore, may no longer be how much a property can command in rent or how much a guest pays per night, but how much the owner or operator is actually able to retain after vacancies, maintenance, repairs and other operating expenses.
