Every weekday before dawn, Oluwatobi Ogundipe embarks on a gruelling four-hour commute from Sango Ota, a town in Ogun state, to his job in Lagos Island’s technology district. Despite working in one of Nigeria’s expanding tech sectors, the 32-year-old product manager said the escalating cost of rent in Lagos forces him to live far from his office.

In 2023, Ogundipe found a self-contained room near his workplace on Lagos Island that rented for ₦900,000 annually—roughly £490 at the time. Including agency and agreement fees, his total cost nearly doubled, placing it well beyond his financial reach. As a result, he relocated to Sango Ota, where rents are significantly lower but the commute is far lengthier.

Ogundipe’s experience is emblematic of a widespread housing affordability crisis in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and cultural hub with a population exceeding 22 million. The city attracts approximately 6,000 new residents daily, according to Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, intensifying demand for housing. While around 3,000 people leave each day, the net migration exerts ongoing pressure on the property market.

Rents in Lagos have soared well above wage increases in recent years. Flats on the mainland that once rented for ₦500,000 annually now command up to ₦2.5 million, while rental prices on Lagos Island have reportedly tripled. By comparison, Nigeria’s national minimum wage stands at ₦840,000 per year, making many housing options unaffordable for average workers.

Emmanuel Joseph, a Lagos-based real estate agent, noted that many tenants, unable to afford the rising costs, resort to sharing apartments. “Even if they saved every naira, they still can’t afford a ₦2m apartment,” he said.

Others face demanding daily journeys to and from distant areas. Ayodeji Monsuru, a civil servant living in the outer district of Ijaiye, commutes over two hours each morning to his job in Maryland on the mainland. His income of about ₦240,000 monthly is further strained by weekly transport expenses of ₦3,500. Monsuru said escalating rents have pushed many professionals out of central Lagos, questioning the sustainability of working in the city under current conditions.

Urban management experts attribute the crisis to a significant shortfall in housing supply. According to Professor Tabbat Lawanson of the University of Lagos, the city faces a deficit exceeding 3.4 million housing units. Lagos’s rapid population growth outpaces new construction, compelling residents to seek cheaper accommodation options or share living spaces. Some even adopt itinerant lifestyles, spending weekdays in Lagos and weekends with family elsewhere.

However, Lawanson highlighted that limited land availability, high construction costs, scant housing finance, and low incentives for affordable development drive investors toward luxury housing projects. These high-end developments are more profitable, leaving a dearth of affordable homes for the majority of residents.

The expansion of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb has further squeezed the housing market. Landlords are increasingly converting properties into short-let accommodations targeting tourists and business travelers, which generate higher returns than traditional long-term leases. This trend reduces the availability of rental units for permanent residents and contributes to escalating prices.

Efforts by government officials to address the crisis have been limited publicly. A spokesperson for Lagos’s housing team did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite these challenges, many Lagos residents persist, enduring lengthy commutes and rising costs driven by the city’s economic opportunities. Yet for some like Ogundipe, the city’s famed dynamism increasingly comes at a personal cost. “We all come to Lagos chasing something,” he said, “but these days, it feels like the city is slowly pushing us away.”