Purpose -Housing issues bother every living human especially workers who cover long distances to their work places. This paper attempts to examine the effect of housing proximity on the workers productivity as it relates to tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This is with the view to proposing effective and workable staff housing that will enhance institutional productivity especially for the academics, as the tertiary institutions are meant to be citadels of higher learning per excellence.Design/Methodology/approach -The cross-sectional survey design was adopted to elicit relevant data that will guide the researchers' proposal for improving productivity among academics of the selected tertiary institutions in Imo State, via staff housing scheme. A multi-stage sampling procedure consisting of quasi-probability sampling approaches for the survey. Appropriate tables and data analysis techniques were also employed in explaining the field results.Findings -Findings exposed the difficulties faced by these staff as a result of distance from home to workplace; academics' attitude to work in relation to productivity and its impact on student-staff relationship vis-a-vis learning outcomes and identification of suitable staff housing strategies for the selected institutions.Research limitations/implications -This paper roused some issues that require further investigations relating to staff income and housing preferences. Further study will examine various data on staff consolidated salaries, age and composition of household and payment arrangements. The scope will also address other issues relating to preferred neighborhood layout or setting.Practical implications -The outcome intend to provide a framework for enhancing workers' productivity and creation of strong synergy among the stakeholders of tertiary academics. It will also serve as a warning guide to the Nigerian government and other private investors while prioritizing institutional needs and supports.Originality/Value -The study tried to relate productivity of academic workers in tertiary institutions and their housing proximity which has been a gap in other related studies.