Ebonyi to regulate house rent, cap agents’ fee at 2% in proposed law

Ebonyi to regulate house rent, cap agents’ fee at 2% in proposed law

Francis Nwifuru, governor of Ebonyi state, has approved the transmission of two executive bills aimed at regulating house rents, agency fees, and the scrap metal trade to the state’s house of assembly.

Nwifuru

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Abakaliki after the state’s executive council meeting on Monday, Ikeuwa Omebeh, commissioner for information and orientation, said the proposed legislation will protect residents from financial exploitation and safeguard public infrastructure.

Omebeh said to address the rising cost of housing in Abakaliki, the state capital, the council approved an executive bill to regulate the relationship between landlords and tenants, as well as fees charged by professional and non-professional house agents.

He said the bill prohibits agents from collecting a fee exceeding two percent of the total rental value.

According to him, the regulation is to enforce compliance among registered agents, curb arbitrary charges, and ease the financial burden imposed on residents by spiralling housing costs.

On addressing infrastructural theft and improving public safety, Omebeh said the council proposed “a bill for a law to regulate the sale of metal and electrical scraps in Ebonyi state and other related matters”.

He said the legislation, if passed into law, would regulate the acquisition, sale, possession, transportation, and disposal of metal and electrical scrap across the state.

The proposed law is targeted at preventing the vandalism of public infrastructure, curbing environmental degradation, and promoting public safety.

The commissioner added that the bills were forwarded to the state house of assembly following approval by the executive council.