Gross and net rental yield on an investment property in naira.
Net rental yield
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Gross yield
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Net annual income
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Monthly net
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The one number that tells you if a let is worth it
Yield is how a property investor compares a building to a bank account. It expresses the annual rent as a percentage of what you paid, so a flat earning NGN 6 million a year on an NGN 80 million purchase has a gross yield of 7.5 percent. That single figure lets you weigh bricks against a Treasury bill or a fixed deposit on the same scale. This calculator gives you the gross yield, then the more honest net yield after the running costs that gross conveniently ignores, plus the cash income in naira each year and each month.
Note that yield is a cash-flow measure. It deliberately says nothing about capital appreciation, which in Nigerian property can be the larger part of the return. A modest yield can still sit on a great investment if the land is appreciating, and a fat yield can mask a building that is falling apart. Read this alongside, not instead of, your view on price growth.
Gross against net on an NGN 80 million flat
Take the defaults: an NGN 80 million property, NGN 6 million of annual rent, and NGN 800,000 of annual costs covering the Lagos Land Use Charge, maintenance, and management. Gross yield is simply NGN 6 million divided by NGN 80 million, which is 7.5 percent. Subtract the NGN 800,000 of costs and net income is NGN 5.2 million, so net yield is NGN 5.2 million divided by NGN 80 million, which is 6.5 percent. That full percentage point is the gap between the brochure number and what reaches your account. In cash terms the property nets NGN 5.2 million a year, or about NGN 433,333 a month.
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Costs Nigerian landlords routinely forget
The costs box is where optimism goes to die, and underfilling it is the classic mistake. Beyond the Land Use Charge, maintenance, and management you should fold in service charges in estates, security and diesel for the generator, periodic agency renewal fees, and the void months when a unit sits empty between tenants. A property advertised at a 7.5 percent gross yield can quietly settle near 5 percent once a realistic cost load and a month or two of vacancy are included. A practical habit: budget costs as a percentage of rent, not a round guess, and revisit it after your first full year of actual figures.
Judging the number against your alternatives
There is no universal good yield. The fair test is the net yield against what the same capital would earn elsewhere at similar risk. In a stretch where short-dated government instruments pay into the high teens or low twenties, a 6.5 percent net rental yield only makes sense if you expect appreciation to make up the difference, plus the practical premium of holding a hard asset. Prime Lagos and Abuja addresses often show lower yields precisely because buyers are paying for expected price growth, while higher headline yields in fringe areas can carry weaker tenant demand and longer voids.
Should I use the purchase price or the current market value?
Both have a use. Yield on your purchase price tells you how the original deal is performing. Yield on today's market value tells you the return the capital tied up in the property is currently earning, which is the more relevant figure when deciding whether to hold or sell. If your property has appreciated, the value-based yield will look lower even though your rent has not changed, and that lower number is the one to compare against selling and reinvesting elsewhere.
Does this yield figure account for tax on the rent?
No. It is a pre-tax cash measure. Income tax on the net rent, and the 10 percent the tenant withholds, both come after this calculation and would lower your true take-home return. Use a rental income tax tool for that step, and confirm the current rates with your state internal revenue service, since personal tax on rent is administered at state level and is being revised under the 2025 reform.
Is the Land Use Charge the same everywhere in Nigeria?
No. The Lagos Land Use Charge is the best known, but it is a state and local levy, so the rate, the valuation method, and even the name differ from state to state. The figure you put in the costs box should reflect your own property's bill, and you can verify how your state assesses it through the relevant state revenue authority rather than assuming the Lagos basis applies.