Residential Satisfaction Among Low-Income Earners in Government-Subsidized Housing Estates in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Governments in Nigeria have developed several mass housing schemes with the goal of providing satisfactory residential environment at affordable cost for residents in urban areas. However, there is little understanding of the extent to which such schemes are meeting the housing needs and expectations of the low-income earners in this country. This study relied on a questionnaire survey involving 333 respondents to examine residential satisfaction among low-income households in 10 government-subsidized housing schemes in urban areas of Ogun State, Nigeria. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics, factor and regression analyses, and findings show that around 66% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the residential environment in the housing estates. Although the residents were most satisfied with the size of main activity areas and privacy in their homes, they were least happy with the economic environment in the estates. The regression model explained 89% of the variance in R2 with management of the housing estates, size of main activity areas, and privacy in the dwelling units and economic environment within and around the estates emerging as the top three factors with the most significant influence on residential satisfaction. The findings are instructive in providing a fresh insight into areas where specific attention is needed to ensure that future projects meet the needs of low-income households in urban Nigeria.

An assessment of residential satisfaction in public housing using Housing Habitability System Framework in Gombe, Northeast Nigeria

“…This finding supports results from several other studies in other parts of Nigeria where residents in public housing were generally dissatisfied with their housing environment. Ibem et al (2018), Ibem and Azuh (2014), as well as Ukoha and Beamish (1997) report general dissatisfaction with overall housing environments. Such findings lend credence to the observation that occupants may not always approve what technocrats approve (Muoghalu, 1984).…”

“…A questionnaire survey as well as informal interviews and observations addressed the study aim. Questionnaires, adapted from Ibem et al (2018), comprise two sections. The first requested data on tenant characteristics from household heads notably gender, age, marital status, education, monthly income, household size, employment sector, tenure as well as length of stay in the estate.…”

“…The tenant subsystem comprises personal characteristics of residents commonly operationalised along demographic and socioeconomic status (SES) variables. These are gender, age, marital status, education, length of residency, tenure, household size, income and typology (Ibem et al, 2018;Makinde, 2015;Waziri et al, 2014). The dwelling system is often unbundled as housing features and services.…”

“…Thirdly, results obtained by descriptive statistics generally portray dwellings as the most satisfactory subsystem, followed by neighbourhood environments. Some studies however report dissatisfaction with dwelling components (Ukoha & Beamish, 1997;Muoghalu, 1984) as well as neighbourhood facilities (Ibem et al, 2018;Ibem & Azuh, 2014;Ibem & Amole, 2012). Management subsystems are most often dissatisfactory (Table 1).…”

“…One of most extensive approaches to the study of housing environments is residential satisfaction (RS) studied by architects, planners, geographers, psychologists, sociologists, builders, facility managers as well as economists etcetera. RS is a multidimensional construct measuring the extent people are happy with their housing environment and associated services as well the gap between expected or aspired housing conditions and situations (Ibem et al, 2018). Smrke et al (2018) assert that an issue in studies of housing environments employing RS pertains the lack of consistency in measurement.…”