Insights of housing providers’ on the critical barriers to sustainable affordable housing uptake in Nigeria
Ikenna Stephen Ezennia
Abstract
The increasing rates of unaffordability cases and subsequent housing abandonment recorded in the public and private housing units provided for the average and vulnerable members of society have been linked not just to financial problems but also sustainability issues. Sustainable affordable housing (SAH) has been advocated by housing scholars and researchers to address these exponentially growing concerns. However, sustainable and affordable houses are at a low rate in Nigeria's housing stock because the uptake of SAH is still in its infancy and very slow. To encourage SAH adoption in Nigeria, a multi-dimensional problem analysis challenging the uptake of SAH is required. The study, therefore, aims to explore the experiences of housing providers on the barriers to SAH adoption in Nigeria. The objective is to determine the degree to which each barrier contributes to the disenfranchisement of vulnerable members of society in terms of housing rights. In this regard, a comprehensive list of 43 barriers, classified under 6 categories, was determined through an extensive literature review. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was designed and administered to 1,554 experts in the Nigerian housing industry with affordable housing experience. Frequency analysis and Kruskal-Wallis H-tests were used to rank and identify the critical barriers. Findings reveal that housing providers' views on the criticality of these barriers differ significantly across professions and based on the nature of service (academic or practice). A framework has been developed to aid housing providers and stakeholders in prioritizing their actions for SAH implementation in the study area.