service charge
A service charge is the money residents pay for the shared upkeep of a building or estate, and it is the cost people forget when they buy.
In plain English
You worked out the rent. You worked out the mortgage. Almost nobody works out the service charge, and in Lagos it can be enormous.
A service charge covers what everybody shares. Security, the generator and its diesel, water, cleaning, the estate's roads, waste collection, and the salaries of the people who do all of it. In a country where a building often supplies its own power and its own security, that bill is far larger than in most parts of the world.
It is also the cost that catches people out, because it is not fixed, and it is not always transparent. Diesel prices rise and your charge rises with them. A new generator is needed and the cost is shared. And in too many Nigerian estates, nobody can explain clearly where the money went, because there are no published accounts and no meaningful oversight.
Before you buy or rent anywhere with a service charge, ask three questions. How much is it now. What did it cost last year and the year before. And can I see the accounts.
If the answer to the third is uncomfortable, that discomfort is your answer.
You budget carefully for a ₦4 million annual rent and then learn the service charge is ₦1.8 million on top. Your housing cost was never ₦4 million. It was ₦5.8 million, and you found out after signing.
Questions people ask
Is service charge negotiable?
Rarely as an individual, since it is shared across residents. Collectively, residents can and should demand transparency and challenge unexplained increases.
What should it cover?
Security, power, water, cleaning, waste and common area maintenance. Ask for a written breakdown, and be concerned if one does not exist.
Can it increase?
Yes, and it does, particularly when diesel and security costs rise. Budget on the assumption that it will, not that it will not.
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