Buea: Tenants decry exploitation by house owners with persistent hike in rents.

The tenants have been groaning over the continuous discriminate increase of house rents. The increase in rents, they say, is often predicated on increase in prices of building materials, cost of labour or as a result of renovation of old structures.

The hike in rents in Buea has been on the rise since the start of the Anglophone crisis in 2016, which resulted in hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from the rural areas, trooping into the town. 

Those displaced from rural areas have since settled in Buea which remains relatively safe.  A single room with an external toilet and no kitchen in Buea now costs averagely between 25,000 FCFA to 30,000 FCFA a month, while a mini apartment ranges from 50,000 FCFA to 75,000 FCFA a month. 

An apartment on the other hand ranges between 85,000 FCFA to 150,000 FCFA. With back-to-school at the corner, the cost of houses in Buea, home to many higher institutes of learning, secondary and vocational education centres will witness an even higher increase.

This, as students from other parts of the country who desire to further their studies seek accommodation. Securing a house in Buea remains daunting.

"...we have hunted down the streets of Malingo and almost every corner of Molyko yet no house,” lamented Eyong Queen, a newcomer to Buea.

Newcomers also complain of the negative role played by house agents who demand high fees.

 “…house agents are making matters worse because even after paying high fees to house agents, you end up not getting the house of your choice. Moreover, there is also an increase in agency fee due to the increase in demand at the moment. House agents now demand 20,000 FCFA agency fee compared to 10,000 FCFA charged last year,” said a student in search of a house.

The situation is further worsened by the fact that landlords and landladies seem to be colluding with house agents.

"I went to this particular hostel at Untarred Malingo and the landlord said there were no rooms available to let, yet a house agent took me to the same hostel two days later to show me available rooms. It appears some landlords no longer reveal available rooms to people and only attain to people brought by house agents,” said Lamented Siy Ndo, a tenant in Buea.

Sector hugely unregulated

In a telephone conversation with The Guardian Post newspaper, the Regional Delegate of Trade for the South West, Bipane Abanda Denis, said the sector isn’t under his competence. 

 “…the landlord or landlady decides the prices with the tenant since it is a contract between them and therefore out of our competence,” he explained.

For the past few years, house owners have been exploiting tenants under the pretext of the ongoing Anglophone crisis.  They say, their decision to increase the rents is due to the influx of population into the town. 

IDPs keep flooding Buea from Idenau, Lebialem, Ndian, Meme and other parts of the conflict wrecked North West and South West regions. The influx is said to be causing a high demand for houses.

"...house owners always come up with excuses. Last year, it was over population and this year it is renovation", a tenant lamented.

"Last year, my rent was increased from 350,000 FCFA to 380,000 FCFA and this year, it has increased to 410,000 FCFA, because of renovation which I have never seen," a tenant of a self-contained room explained. 

Spiral in cost of building materials

Builders as well as house owners in Buea also attribute the need to continue increasing the price of different living spaces like single rooms, studios, and apartments to the increase in the cost of building materials. 

When the price of fuel was increased this year by the government, materials like sand, gravel, rods and other materials transported by tipper trucks witnessed a massive increase. 

According to one home owner, a trip of sand increased from between 100,000 FCFA to 130,000 FCFA while gravel is presently 250,000 FCFA compared to an initial price of 200,00 to 210,000 FCFA, thus putting a strain on them.

According to one driver who did not want to be named, 10 litres of illicit petrol was previously bought for 6,500 FCFA but now the price ranges between 7,500 FCFA to 8,000 FCFA and even 9,000 FCFA at times. 

In this case, he said it was automatic that prices of building materials will witness an increase as well. Cement which initially cost between 4,500 FCFA-4,700 FCFA has skyrocketed to 4,800 FCFA-5000 FCFA.

Tenants blame fraudsters

Many denizens in Buea, while acknowledging the increase in population as a result of the crisis, say the biggest pull on the price of houses in Buea are fraudsters commonly referred to as ‘scammers’. 

Most of the said scammers inflate the prices of houses by paying huge lump sums to house owners before the houses are even completed.

Tenants often bargain the prices of single rooms, studios or apartments with the house owners. But the said scammers do not bargain.

“…if the house owners say a studio is 100,000 FCFA a month, the scammer does not even bargain and pays for two years in advance. In this light, most landlords build their houses with scammers in mind. An average denizen of Buea who earns 100,000 FCFA-150,000 FCFA a month cannot find a decent home to live in because of these fraudsters,” said a resident.

By Shing Timothy & Ngang Nadege*