Housing Strategies and Quality of Housing in Nigeria: what lessons from Wales?

Abstract

This paper discusses the strategies for the provision of housing in Nigeria and the nexus with quality of housing. It reviews the various approaches at the provision of housing for Nigerian urban and rural dwellers since the independence of Nigeria over fifty years ago. The paper notes that housing need in Nigeria particularly in urban centres has continued to increase phenomenally while effective demand by the vast majority of the populace has not shown any visible improvement. It further notes that a consequence of all the interplay of forces in housing provision has been poor quality of housing in the country. It takes a look at housing provision in Wales, UK and the strategies used in achieving this, and draws a correlation with the Nigerian situation. It asserts that there are lessons to be learnt from Wales in improving housing provision and reducing the level of housing inadequacy in Nigeria.

Keywords: nexus, Nigeria, quality, strategies, Wales.