ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTS HOUSING SATISFACTION DETERMINANTS

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background Of Study

The availability and quality of housing has a significant impact on people’s lives, affecting choices of work and transport needs, as well as the quality of life. With rates of household formation continuing to increase, housing demand stimulated by the buy-to-let market, and housing supply remaining largely static, there are significant shortages of suitable housing in areas of population pressure. (Davis & Everest, 2004).Market forces in housing are complex, driven by incomes and house prices, demographics and social change, and economic factors including employment and consumer confidence. Despite rising prices, the supply of new housing into areas of high demand has not increased significantly. House building is a high risk enterprise and developers will take a conservative approach, in order to avoid being exposed to a falling market.

In Lagos State, house developers are faced with challenges like constraints on the supply of land, house builders and limited development capability in terms of finance and management resources. The dense mixed-tenure schemes promoted by planning policy and the need to optimize land value are more complex to develop, particularly in terms of planning, design and relationships with local authorities. Finance requirements are also greater, with significant upfront investment in construction not being recovered until relatively late in the development programme, further constraining development capacity. These constraints have affected the provision of low-cost housing estate for the residents of Lagos State. Provision of low-cost housing estates considers their closeness to the shopping centres (Opoku and Abdul-Muhmin, 2010). It pays proper attention to the management of support and public facilities to enhance residential satisfaction of the inhabitants and also adopt a policy to build different sizes of units to cater the needs of residents with large families in order to enhance quality of life of low-income urban community in the country.

This research study will provide an assessment of public low-cost housing provision in Lagos State. The focus of the study is on determining what is actually required to have adequate supply of low-cost housing that is affordable and give resident’s satisfaction, with dwelling unit support services, followed by public and neighbourhood facilities than dwelling unit features and social environment. Findings from a study by (Mohammad, Mansor & Yong 2010) on the assessment of residential satisfaction in newly designed public low-cost housing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia revealed that residential satisfaction index like improved security management control, perimeter roads and proper waste management system has high positive correlations with dwelling unit features, social environment, support services and public facilities, and low positive correlation with neighbourhood facilities. Socio-economic attributes of the residents such as age, family size, working wives, previous residence are negatively correlated with residential satisfaction, whereas residents’ race, employment type, floor level and length of residency are positively correlated with residential satisfaction.

1.2 Statement Of Research Problems

Residential satisfaction of public low-cost housing is enhanced through improving the management of security control, perimeter roads and proper waste management system. Despite the importance in low-cost housing delivery in Lagos State, there appears to be no framework within which this objective will be achieved. This development has caused emergence of informal city within Lagos metropolis due to incessant increase in population. The adoption of real estate is a counter-measure against the spread of the informal city in Lagos. The experience of Lagos in terms of urbanization can be compared to that of Mexico City with a population of nearly 18milliom inhabitants (Hamilton, 2006). Although, Mexico city is reputed to have emerged as a major global services provider in accounting, advertising, banking, finance and legal services.

The resultant effects of insufficient low-cost housing are slum settlements and informal areas of Lagos megacity. These poor urban dwellers have little access to urban land and therefore the attributes become squatters, living in shanty houses that are constructed from materials that are low-cost and hazardous e.g. bamboo, straw and polythene. Sijuwade (2008) describes other groups of urban poor as people who are used to living in single roomed housing. He claimed that more than five members of the households live in one congested room.

The study by (Mohammad, Mansor & Yong 2010) on the assessment of residential satisfaction in Malaysia has shown determinants of residential satisfaction. Therefore, this study will examine the extent to which residents’ satisfactions are determined by the structural, environmental and socio-economic attributes. This study will give answers to the following research questions;

1. How does structural and neighbourhood attributes influence residential satisfaction in the study area?
2. Do the structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes influence the rental value in the study area?

1.3 Aim And Objectives

1.3.1 Aim

The aim of the study is to assess the relative importance of structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes as determinants of residents’ satisfaction in Shagari low-cost housing estate in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

1.3.2 Objectives

The objectives are to;

1. Determine the socio-economic characteristics of the low-cost housing residents in Lagos State.
2. Examine the structural and neighbourhood attributes of the houses in the study area.
3. Examine the level of satisfaction of the residents to the rent paid in the study area.
4. Examine whether the rents paid are determined by the structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes.
5. Examine the policy implication of the findings for public low-cost housing provision.

1.3.3 Test Of Hypothesis

Ho − Rental value is not significantly determined by the structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes of housing.

Hi − Rental value is significantly determined by the structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes of housing.,

1.4 Scope Of Study

This study will consider structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes of low cost housing in Lagos State. The study will be carried-out on public low-cost housing estate at Shagari Housing Estate, Ipaja, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. It will cover the following low cost housing attributes; the building materials, location, neighbourhood characteristics, residents’ characteristics, dwelling units, rental value and dwelling unit features.

1.5 Justification Of Study

Data from this study will give structural, neighbourhood and socio-economic attributes of low-income housing as it will enable proper classification of housing types. This study will reveal challenges facing the adequate provision of low-cost housing estate (materials, location and administration). It will also relate which of these attributes is more important in the residents’ satisfaction.

1.6 Study Area

Shagari Estate was a Federal Low-Income Housing Scheme established by the Federal Government during the First Republic by Alhaji Shehu Shagari between 1979 and 1981. It was originally meant to provide accommodation for the low income earners who were then predominantly artisans, craftsmen, and junior civil servants amongst others. Construction works for the Estate started in 1980 and was allocated to the target group (the low income earners) through a ballot system between 1982 and 1983. The Estate is located at Ipaja in Alimosho Local Government Council Area which was then in the outskirts of the city. It is divided into 4 zones, all properly networked into each other.

Alimosho Local Government Area is located on the North-West of Lagos State. Which itself is situated at the south-western part of Nigeria, West Africa on the narrow coastal plain of the Bight of Benin. The Local Government covers land area of about 300 sq.km. (9km2) and has a growing population of over 3-4 million people/inhabitants. It shares borders with the following local governments; Agege, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Oshodi-Isolo, Amuwo-Odofin and Ojo. Lagos State is one of the 36 states that constitute the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It extends approximately from latitude 6°2’N to 6°4’N, and from longitude 2°45’East to 4°20’East. Out of its total area of 3,577sq.km, about 787sq. km. or 22 percent is water. The state is located on the South-Western part of Nigeria with the southern boundary of the state framed by about 180 kilometres along Atlantic coastline while the northern and eastern boundaries are framed by Ogun State.

The Republic of Benin formed the western boundary. The state is the smallest state in Nigeria in land area with an area of about 358,861 hectares or 3577 sq.km (Odumosu, 1999). This represents only 0.4 percent of the entire area of Nigeria. This size accommodates about 10 percent of the entire140 million approximate population of the Nigeria. The state is also the most urbanized in Nigeria (Ayeni, 1979). Only about 5 per cent of the state total population live in rural areas. This has serious consequences on land use planning in the state especially in urban areas. It also has great implication on infrastructure. Ironically except for Abuja, Lagos stands out to be the best served with infrastructural facilities in Nigeria yet it is where these facilities are most inadequate due to the high population density. The state is also the most affluent in spite of its small size.

Lagos metropolis lies generally on low lands, with about 18782 hectares of built-up area. The approximate population of this area is more than 18 million. The projected average population density of the built-up area of Lagos metropolis is about 20,000 people per square kilometre in an emerging African Megacity. Two dominant religious groups in Lagos are Christians which constitute, about 54.6%, while the Muslims constitute about 44.33% (Odumosu, 1999). The balance of 1.1% represents the percentage population of other religious groups. According to the Master Plan for Metropolitan Lagos (MPML) the urban land use was approximately 172 square kilometres in 1985. (Master Plan for Metropolitan Lagos, 1985). Current land use distribution of Lagos shows that residential areas occupied about 9669 hectares (52.1%) of the total built-up area of the city.