Hamzat says young earners should live with parents, relatives or roommates while saving towards home ownership.
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has advised young workers to avoid feeling pressured to rent expensive apartments, urging them to consider living with parents, relatives or sharing accommodation while building their finances.
Hamzat gave the advice during a question-and-answer session with Nigeria Info FM on Thursday while responding to concerns over rising rents and the difficulty faced by young workers earning low incomes.
He said young people should choose accommodation that matches their earnings rather than trying to immediately rent self-contained apartments or mini-flats they cannot comfortably afford.
The deputy governor advised residents to spend no more than 40 per cent of their income on rent, noting that workers also have to cater for food, transportation, clothing and other essential expenses.
Hamzat also advocated mortgage financing as a more sustainable way for Lagos residents to own homes, saying people could not continue to purchase properties through one-off payments.
He explained that the Lagos State mortgage system allows buyers to make an initial payment and spread the balance over several years, depending on their income and repayment capacity.
Using a N7 million property as an example, Hamzat said a buyer could make a 10 per cent initial payment of N700,000 and repay the balance monthly over 10 years.
He said young people could start with smaller properties and gradually move towards better housing as their income and savings improved.
Hamzat, however, acknowledged that housing affordability was closely linked to the wider economy, stressing the need for improved incomes and economic stability to enable residents to cope with rising living costs.
He said the state would continue to explore mortgage financing and other housing initiatives to make home ownership more accessible to Lagos residents.