Accessibility of Low-Income Earners to Public Housing in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

There are three major sources of housing provision in Nigeria; namely public, private and popular sectors. The popular sector has provided the larger proportion of houses in the country and its activities mostly benefit the urban poor. Public sector intervention in housing with particular regard to low-income earners has been largely unsuccessful. Low-income earners hardly have access to houses provided by the public sector. This paper examines the access of low-income earners to public housing in Ado-Ekiti, the capital city of Ekiti State Nigeria. Two public housing schemes in Ado-Ekiti; namely, the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate and the State Housing Estate were studied. The research findings show glaringly that low-income earners were almost schemed out regarding access to the buildings. This is a negation of the original intention of government especially as most of the buildings in the housing estates were conceived as low-cost houses for low-income earners. The paper recommends a number of strategies to enhance greater accessibility to public housing by low-income earners.

Keywords: accessibility, housing, low-income, provision, public.