ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the phenomenon of commercialisation of land and shelter, landlordism, and landlord-tenant relations in one of such newly-emerging low-income settlements in metropolitan Lagos. Landlord-tenant relations vary according to the type of living arrangements, i.e. whether the landlord is resident in the house, resident in the community, or completely absent. With resident landlords, it was generally felt that services tended to be more available and repairs carried out more promptly. Those of the landlords resident in the community tend to be long-term residents, with the predominant proportion having been there for over ten years, and none for less than seven years. Generally, a predominant proportion of the tenants believe that their landlords, particularly the non-resident ones, do not care much for the houses. It is the specific phenomenon that is creating both landlords and tenants within the context of housing the urban poor.
