Evaluation of the Causes of Housing Problems in Nigeria: A Case Study of Awka the Capital City of Anambra State

Abstract

This study evaluated the causes of housing problem in Nigeria using Awka, Anambra State as a case. The work adopted the survey method through Oral interview, observation and Questionnaires. The simple random sampling approach was used and the sample size of the study was purposively put at 300. The target population includes: housing investors, government parastatals and individuals. The identified causative factors of housing problem were tested using the following statistical tools One-way ANOVA for test of significant difference in the response of the respondents and Post-HOC in ranking of these factors. They were arranged in descending order as follows: Poverty, Population increase due to Urbanization, High cost of land, Non-implementation of the housing policies, Failure on the side of the government, High cost of building materials and Corruption; which implies the least of the problems is corruption. The work concluded that housing deficit is one of the major problems suffered by urban and rural areas in the country and the analysis of the data generated from the study area shows that the main causative factor is poverty. The work thus recommends that; the government should ensure that the target set by their housing policies is fully met for better economic development; poverty eradication programmes within the country should be well implemented, monitored and periodically evaluated for success level determination; housing should be made more affordable and land procurement processes made easy; the private sector to collaborate with the government in provision of housing for Nigerians and developers to invest in mass housing provision as this will help in reducing the deficit in the housing sector.