Deposits equivalent to one or two years’ rent, advances required per quarter, these are practices that are found elsewhere, in other countries on the African continent. Abuses more or less limited by the legal frameworks in force.
Since January, Togo has capped deposits at six months’ rent. For Guezere Assogba, lecturer in urban geography at the University of Kara, in northern Togo, this is a good starting point for limiting family debt and facilitating their access to decent housing. It remains to ensure the application of the texts.
In Benin, despite the 2018 law, Éric Houessou of the Benin Consumer Defense Association notes that some landlords continue to ask for “pre-paid”: one or even several months’ rent in advance in addition to the deposit.
Regulations circumvented in the DRC
Same observation in Kinshasa, where the 2013 regulations are circumvented. Ten months of rent in advance, sometimes more and non-compliant contracts that leave tenants without the possibility of recourse. For Derrick Tshibangu of the Organization for the Defense of Consumers in the DRC, a solution could be to rely on neighborhood leaders to ensure compliance with the texts.
Texts still insufficient in Cameroon to regulate the private sector. Simon Kaldjob of the Collective of Consumer Associations regrets that owners in a position of power dictate their conditions without limits set by law.
A real estate sector that is under pressure in African cities. Indeed, Africa is the continent with the strongest urban demographic growth in the world.
• In Guinea, the rent advance scandal
Finding an apartment in Conakry is an obstacle course. Many dealerships ask their tenant to pay a full year before they can move in. To simplify the conditions of access to housing, the government decided, Thursday, March 24, to limit rent advances to a maximum of three months. An announcement made in the Council of Ministers.
His apartment is at the back of the concession: 50 square meters, four rooms. For Ahmed, his two sisters, his wife and their ten-day-old son.
Report from Conakry