Looking after a family house in Nigeria from abroad

The scale, and the risks

• Remittances to Nigeria were about $21 billion in 2024. Industry estimates put around 30% of that into housing, and Lagos developers attribute 70% to 80% of off-plan sales in gated estates to buyers abroad. Those are trade estimates, not official statistics.
• Land grabbing: by February 2024 the Lagos State Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers had received 7,500 petitions, resolved 4,283 disputes, arrested 205 people and had 60 prosecutions running. The Lagos State Property Protection Law 2016 makes taking land by force or self-help an offence.
• Money sent for building or repairs diverted by the relative or agent managing it, and forged documents from syndicates in Lagos and Abuja, are described by the Nigerian press as recurring patterns rather than rare events. A 2019 study of uncompleted buildings put wrong estimates, inflation and inadequate finance at the top of the causes.

What it costs to have someone responsible

• Property management: the surveyors' professional scale sets 10% of gross rent; market practice in Lagos is 5% to 10% of annual rent collected. Firms that serve owners abroad publish tiers such as 8% to 12% for full management, 3% to 5% for rent collection only, and a placement fee of one month's rent, with video inspections and an online portal.
• A security guard in Lagos: median N52,000 a month, range N38,000 to N73,000 (September 2026 salary data). The national minimum wage is N70,000.
• Home insurance exists and is cheap by UK standards: a householder policy from one large insurer from about N20,000 a year for building and contents against fire, theft and flood; a contents-only product from another at a flat N10,000 a year. Building insurance for a specific house is quoted individually.
• Running costs: routine generator servicing N110,000 to N160,000 a year; a borehole pump needs servicing or replacing every five to ten years; estate service charges from N80,000 to over N2 million a year depending on the estate (2026 guides).

Tenants and the law

• The Tenancy Law of Lagos State 2011 caps rent in advance at one year for yearly tenancies and sets notice periods of one week to six months depending on the tenancy. Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Ikeja GRA and Apapa are excluded from it. A 2025 bill to cap agency fees at 5% and tighten enforcement has passed second reading and is not yet law.
• In practice a year, often two, in advance remains the norm. An owner abroad needs one person with authority to sign, collect and evict, and a written agreement about what that person may spend without asking.
• Title: for Lagos, a Certificate of Occupancy and Governor's consent on transfer, now applied for through the state's online land portal (launched January 2024). Transfer costs run to 4% to 8% of price in government charges plus agency and legal fees.

Buying from abroad

• The Federal Mortgage Bank launched a Diaspora National Housing Fund mortgage in London in August 2026: up to N100 million at 9% a year over up to ten years, with registration and contributions from abroad. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission's page still shows the earlier terms (N50 million, 15 years); treat the bank's as current.
• The same rule as for care applies: a document, a person and a schedule. Someone in Nigeria whose job it is to look, on a date, and tell you what they saw.

Where this meets looking after a person

• Most family houses in Nigeria have someone living in them, often the parent the family is also responsible for. A nurse who visits the house on a schedule sees the house as well as the person: the generator that no longer starts, the leak in the ceiling, the caretaker who has stopped coming. Kinship Visits are in Lagos today; the updates are written for the family to read.

Questions people ask

Related

• Someone living alone
• Questions to ask any care provider in Nigeria