Assessment of housing quality in Ibeju-Lekki periurban settlement, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This article assesses housing quality in Ibeju-Lekki, a peripheral settlement outside Lagos metropolitan region. Using purposive sampling, 370 housing units from clusters of 16 periurban settlements constituted the sample size. Primary data was sourced through structured questionnaires, interview (with local planning personnel) and observation schedules administered through a field survey. Using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, data analysis was done using descriptive analysis to generate frequencies and percentages on socio-economic profile, neighbourhood quality, locational quality, dwelling quality, and building materials used. Tests of correlation were conducted on the mean of variables of neighbourhood quality, locational quality and building materials, derived through recoding of variables by means of Transform statistical tool, to establish the factors influencing housing quality in the study area. The findings show a significant positive correlation between household income and housing quality. The  latter is found to be influenced by respondents’ socio-economic attributes, building materials, neighbourhood quality, and locational quality in the study area. It can be concluded that socio-economic characteristics, predominantly income of households, play a major role in the level of housing quality that can be accessed in the study area. It is, therefore, recommended that the state government and private developers should promote alternative building materials, in order to enhance housing affordability by the low-income group. This will reduce the spread of informal housing development. In addition, the state government should align urban policy to eliminate disparity in  infrastructural development which has impacted on poor neighbourhood and locational quality in Lagos peri-urban settlements.

Keywords: Dwelling quality, housing quality, locational quality, neighbourhood quality, peri-urban settlements