How much to build a 3-Bedroom Bungalow in Lagos
The most popular house type in Nigeria — the dream home for most Lagos families. Standard rectangular design with a living room, dining, kitchen, 3 bedrooms (master en-suite), and a visitor's toilet.
🧱 How much will it cost to build?
Pick a house type, finish level and location — see the cost breakdown by stage.
Stage-by-stage cost breakdown
Total estimate: ₦35,000,000–₦50,000,000
Labor rates for this build
All construction artisans you'll need for this project
| Role | Daily rate | Monthly rate |
|---|---|---|
Bricklayer/Mason Lays blocks, renders walls. The most critical artisan — bad bricklaying means uneven walls and structural issues. Experienced bricklayers charge premium. | ₦5,000–₦10,000 | ₦120,000–₦250,000 |
Carpenter Roofing framework, formwork for concrete casting, doors/window frames. A good roofing carpenter prevents leaks for decades. | ₦5,000–₦8,000 | ₦100,000–₦200,000 |
Plumber Water supply and drainage installation. First fix (before plastering) and second fix (after tiling). Poor plumbing causes the most expensive post-construction repairs. | ₦4,000–₦8,000 | ₦80,000–₦180,000 |
Electrician Wiring, conduit installation, panel board, earthing. MUST be certified — unlicensed electricians cause house fires. First fix and second fix stages. | ₦4,000–₦8,000 | ₦80,000–₦180,000 |
Tiler Floor and wall tile installation. Specialist tilers (marble, porcelain) charge N10K-N18K/day vs N5K-N8K for standard ceramic. | ₦5,000–₦12,000 | ₦100,000–₦250,000 |
Painter Interior and exterior painting. Screeding, filling, undercoat, and finishing. A 3-bedroom needs 2-3 weeks of painting work. | ₦4,000–₦7,000 | ₦80,000–₦150,000 |
POP Installer Plaster of Paris ceiling specialist. Paid per sqm (N3K-N6K/sqm installed) rather than daily rate. Cornices and decorative work cost extra. | ₦5,000–₦10,000 | — |
Welder/Iron Bender Bends and ties iron rods for reinforcement. Also fabricates gates, burglar-proof bars, and railings. | ₦4,000–₦8,000 | ₦80,000–₦160,000 |
Laborer (General) Carries materials, mixes mortar, assists artisans. A site needs 3-6 laborers depending on project size. | ₦3,000–₦5,000 | ₦60,000–₦100,000 |
Site Engineer/Foreman Supervises construction, reads drawings, manages artisans. A qualified site engineer prevents costly structural mistakes. 5-7% of project budget. | ₦15,000–₦30,000 | ₦350,000–₦600,000 |
📝 The Lagos context
The three-bedroom bungalow is, by some distance, the most-built house type in Lagos — the default family home. Three bedrooms, a living and dining area, kitchen and two or more bathrooms on a single level hit the sweet spot of space and affordability for the Nigerian middle class, which is why it is the design most self-builders and small estates put up. On one floor it skips the cost of a storey building's floor slab and staircase, keeping it cheaper than a duplex with the same bedroom count.
The cost is set by plot and design but swung, as always, by finish. The structural shell — foundation, blockwork, concrete, roof — is driven by material prices (cement, rods, blocks, roofing) and is fairly predictable for a standard layout. Finishing is the variable: basic, standard and luxury specifications can separate two identical shells by a wide margin, because tiles, kitchens, doors, POP and sanitaryware are where taste and budget meet. The figure excludes land, which in Lagos is frequently the single biggest cost.
Because so many are built, the three-bed bungalow is also the design with the most reliable cost benchmarks and the deepest pool of experienced artisans — an advantage for a first-time builder. The proven playbook applies: lock structural quantities and buy in bulk in a soft price window, supervise the concrete and blockwork, and concentrate the finishing spend on the rooms you use most. It is the safest, most repeatable build in the city.