Design the Rent-to-Own Product That Puts Nigerians on the Path to Home Ownership

Rent-to-own housing — where monthly rental payments progressively build equity toward ownership — has expanded home ownership in Malaysia, South Africa, and Egypt. Nigeria's legal framework technically supports it, but no product has successfully scaled. The challenges are: Nigerian landlords resist long-term agreements, there is no standard legal framework for rent-to-own contracts, and title transfer mechanisms are cumbersome. Your challenge is to design a rent-to-own housing product for Lagos or Abuja. It must enable tenants earning ₦200,000 to ₦500,000 per month to achieve full ownership of a property in 10 to 15 years through rental payments, be bankable for property sellers, and operate within a legal framework that is enforceable in Nigerian courts. Submit a financial and legal product design document (max 12 pages) including: the financial structure of the rent-to-own product, the legal agreement design and enforceability analysis, how title is held and transferred, seller incentive design, the 15-year financial model for buyer and operator, and a plan to complete 100 transactions in the first two years. Judging criteria: 40% financial model credibility and buyer affordability, 30% legal enforceability design, 20% seller incentive model, 10% transaction plan.