Assessing the Effects of Rental Default by Commercial Property Occupiers on Property Management in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

One of the fundamental roles of a property manager in the property management process is his ability to collect rent on behalf of his client (landlord); rent is collected and given to the landlord to enable him to meet his investment needs. When rent arrears occur this could hinder the property owners or managers from attaining their objectives for investing in real estate. This paper fundamentally looks at the effect of rental default by commercial property occupiers on property management with experience from Minna, Niger State which is the study area. Thirty-eight property managers in the study area were surveyed with a structured questionnaire, twenty-eight were returned with a response rate of 74%. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistical tools, analysis of the primary data depicts eleven (11) effects of rent defaults on commercial property management, of these eleven effects, income loss, reduction of annual rental yield and delay in payment of agent dues with an average means score of 3.91, 3.87, and 3.83 respectively, were ranked as the three most significant effects. The study recommended that property managers and owners should make adequate insurance provisions to protect themselves against rent arrears. Additionally, whenever any tenant fails to meet up with the agreement provided in the tenancy agreement without any genuine reason should be made to face the law.