DELIVERY OF LOW INCOME HOUSING IN NIGERIA PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

Thesis Overview

INTRODUCTIONHousing is paramount to human existence as it ranks among the top three needs of man. Its provision has always been of great necessity to man.        As a unit of the environment housing has profound influence on the health, efficiency, social behaviour, satisfaction and general welfare of the community. It is a reflection of the cultural, social and economic values of a society and one of the best historical evidences of the civilization of a country (Olotuah, 2000).

        The provision of adequate housing in any country is very vital as housing is a stimulant of the national economy. Housing is a set of durable assets, which accounts for a high proportion of a country’s wealth and on which households spend a substantial part of their income. It is for these reasons that housing has become a regular feature in economic, social and political debates often with highly charged emotional contents (Agbola, 1998).
        In Nigeria, like in many other developing nations of the world housing problems are multi dimensional. The problems of population explosion, continuous influx of people from the rural to the urban centres, and the lack of basic infrastructure required for good standard of living have compounded housing problems over the years. Access to this basic need by the poor who constitute the largest percentage of the world population has remained a mirage and it needs to be critically addressed. Ogieto (1987) has observed that the disparity between the price and quantity of housing on the one hand, and the number of households and the money available to them to pay these prices on the other, constitutes the central problem of housing. The cost at which houses reach the market goes a long way to determine affordability. Where the unit cost of houses is abnormally high only a few people are able to afford the houses. According to Okupe and Windapo (2000) the gap between income and shelter cost in Nigeria is very wide.This has almost eliminated the low-income earners from the housing market, The research intends to provide an assessment of the delivery of low income housing in Nigeria ;its prospect and challenges1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDYShortage of adequate housing virtually abounds in every country, particularly in the developing and third world countries. The shortage, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, is more acute in the urban centres. Omojinmi (2000) observed that people that sleep in indecent houses in urban Nigeria are more than people who sleep in decent houses. Thus, it is assertive that there is inadequacy in housing to cope with the ever-increasing population in Nigeria (Arayela, 2003). The causes of this dearth in housing are numerous.  High construction cost is found to be present in all countries, albeit in varying degrees of significance (Adedeji, 2007). Afolayan (1987) attributes the high cost of construction to rising cost of building materials, inflation rate in the economy, high space and quality standard adopted by designers, professional fees for housing design and construction, excessive profit of contractors and 10% interest payable on National Housing Fund in Nigeria (NHF).Cases of high cost of housing compared to the low salaries of civil servants in Nigeria could be seen in the sale of 2-bedroom bungalows at Otedola Estate in Lagos, which according to LSG (1999) was the cheapest obtainable and the subsequent sale of 2-bedroom flat at Ikorodu by LSDPC (Lagos State Development and Property Corporation) at N1.7 Million. The research intends to investigate the delivery of low income housing in Nigeria ;its challenges and prospect.1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM        The inability of many Nigerian workers to afford good housing has grown to a greater dimension, the implication resulting in low morale and productivity. However in view of the significance of housing delivery it is pertinent that the issue of housing delivery be properly addressed. The research intends to investigate the delivery of low income housing in Nigeria; its prospect and challenges1.3       RESEARCH QUESTIONS1           What is the nature of low income housing delivery in Nigeria2           What constitute the challenges and prospect of low income housing delivery in Nigeria1.4     OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY1.     To appraise the nature of low income housing delivery in Nigeria2     To determine the nature of the challenges of low income housing delivery in Nigeria3     To appraise the prospect of low income housing delivery in Nigeria1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYThe research shall provide an assessment of the challenges and prospect of low income housing delivery in Nigeria and shall serve as a veritable source of information on low income housing delivery.1.6       STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS1           H0   The delivery of low income housing in Nigeria is low             H1   The delivery of low income housing in Nigeria is high2           H0   The challenges of low income delivery in Nigeria is high            H1   The challenges of low income delivery in Nigeria is low3         H0   The prospect of low income delivery in Nigeria is   low           H1   The prospect of low income delivery in Nigeria is    high1.7       SCOPE OF THE STUDYThe scope of the study is focused on the assessment of the delivery of low income housing in Nigeria .It analyzes the challenges and prospect of the delivery of low income housing in Nigeria.1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMSNATIONAL HOUSING FUND DEFINEDThe National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme came into being through an Act of the National Assembly (Act No.2 of 1992). National Housing Fund provided that 2.5% of the income of workers be paid to the fund as mandatory savings.LOW INCOME EARNERS DEFINEDThe Nigerian National Housing Policy (FGN, 2004) defines the low-income group as all employees and self-employed persons whose annual income is N100, 000:00 and below (i.e. the equivalent of salary grade level of 01-06 within the civil service). Interestingly, the national minimum wage is N44, 000. 00 per annum. About fifty-seven percent (57%) of the Nigerian population falls below the poverty line, which is on the average of US$1 per day (Wahab, 2006). In reality, most employees who work outside the public sector or outside the organized private sector, as well as many self-employed Nigerians earn well below the national minimum wage.