Towards Appropriate Low-Cost Housing Designs for Co-Operative Core Housing in Nigeria:Options and Prospects

Abstract

This paper addresses the formulation of appropriate architectural design solutions for the realization of the co-operative core housing delivery system in Nigeria.  The process of actualization of this housing delivery system in Nigeria is anchored on the viable economic option of the institutional framework of co-operative societies.

At the onset, it examines the nature and principles of co-operatives and proceeds to the elucidation of the concepts and beneficiaries of the co-operative Core Housing Programme.  Furthermore, it advances to an elaboration of the mechanism of Co-operative Housing Societies in terms of its definition, functions and membership as an economic option for housing delivery in consonance with the socio-economic circumstances of the low and middle income classes in Nigeria.This paper then provides an insight into the process of conceptualization of appropriate low-cost housing designs for the Co-operative Core Housing in Nigeria which includes design constraints, cost - saving considerations and the actual design proposal of housetypes.In conclusion, it highlights the specific advantages of the Co-operative Core Housing Programme which includes accessibility to owner-occupier houses  by the low and middle - income earners and as a panacea for the perennial and acute housing shortage in Nigeria.