Some female residents in Lagos have expressed frustration over the discriminatory practices of some landlords who refuse to rent their properties to single ladies and mothers.
In separate interviews on Sunday, some ladies shared their experiences and challenges in securing apartments in Lagos, citing bias as a major obstacle.
The ladies called for an end to such discriminatory practices, urging landlords to consider their applications.
They said this should be based on their creditworthiness and ability to pay rent, rather than their marital status or gender.
Titi Ogunseitan, a single mother of one, complained about the difficulties in renting an apartment noting that estate agents are judgemental.
Ogunseitan, who resides in Magodo, noted that it took her months before securing her apartment.
“I have been hearing about the difficulties renting a house as a single mother but I was always dismissive about that until I started looking for a house after the birth of my son.
“I went to several houses but I was rejected because I’m a single mother and some of the reasons they gave were just insane and I couldn’t understand as they were flimsy excuses.
“After so many searches without results, I got fed up and decided to stay with my family friends and to be honest, it isn’t convenient but what more can I do?” she said.
Fisayo Kasali, a self-employed tailor, had similar difficulties in renting a house in Ikeja area of Lagos.
“There are so many things in the housing sector that the appropriate authorities need to look into and one of them is the unfair discrimination against single ladies.
“When single ladies are looking for houses to rent, landlords and agents have this particular perception about us and we don’t understand why.
“Can’t single ladies have decent jobs? Why do they categorise and see all of us in a particular way? This shouldn’t be the case and this mentality and perceptions must be changed and erased totally.
“The physical and mental stress I went through when I was looking for a house last year was totally draining and I don’t wish for anyone to go through it,”she said.
Busola Lawal, a single lady who works in an insurance company, expressed similar frustrations while house hunting.
Lawal, who resides in Alapere area of the state, noted that it took a while before she could rent an apartment.
“I was house hunting for over 11 months and it took this long because the estate agents and landlords had problems with me not married.
“There were several houses that I saw and I was interested in but I didn’t get any of them because of this problem that we have created by ourselves.
“At a point, I got frustrated, so, I stopped house hunting. But eventually, I got an apartment when I used my friend who is a guy to get the place on my behalf,” she said.
A banker, Temi Farasimi, noted that status should not be a determining factor for renting an apartment.
She urged the Lagos State Government to address the situation noting that a law should be created to ensure women are protected against such discrimination.
A landlord, who resides in Ogudu GRA, Demola Adesesan, however, said that he does not discriminate against gender as he has his apartments rented out to female tenants.
“I have heard about cases of such and I have some friends that own properties who prefer to give their houses to men but I don’t do that.
“My agents have instructions that there shouldn’t be discrimination about single ladies or mothers. So, I can tell you that I have ladies as tenants in my properties.
“I can understand the stance of some landlords against renting their houses to females but personally, I don’t do such as I ensure I give everyone a level playing field,” he said.
Another landlord, Mr Abass Oyewole, said he preferred to rent his property to the male gender noting that past experiences ensured the decision.
“I prefer to give my property to the male gender because of my experience with the opposite gender and I can tell you, it was a very terrible one.
“I’m not going to go into details but with what I experienced with female tenants, I would definitely prevent any situation where I have to give my property to them,” he said.
“I have been in the real estate for several years and the problems I have encountered with my house are the female tenants, especially the single ones.