The latest public opinion poll results released by NOIPolls Limited has revealed that at least five in 10 (56 per cent) residents in four major Nigerian states of Lagos, Rivers, Kano and the FCT still live in rented apartments.
Also, it showed that 25 per cent of these same say they live in personal homes, 16 percent live in their family houses and a paltry three per cent live in company/government owned apartments.
The results also showed that 87 per cent of residents of these cities advocate for government to regulate house rent in the country.
This was mainly due to the high cost of housing in these areas as 65 percent pay between 101, 000 – 500, 000 Naira as rent annually, the survey result obtained wednesday stated.
It pointed out that although 30 per cent revealed that proximity or convenience was of high priority when renting an apartment, as a large proportion of respondents in this category (43 percent) attributed this to the level of traffic congestion in the state prompting residents to rent apartments based on nearness to the locations they frequently visit. Furthermore, 52 percent expressed their dissatisfaction on their housing conditions while 48 percent asserted that they were satisfied with their housing conditions.
“Adequate housing is one of the best indicators of a nation’s standard of living for its citizens. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (which is a theory that prioritises man’s needs in a tiered model), Safety needs, of which shelter is a component, is the second most basic need of man, right after physiological needs such as food, water, warmth and rest.
“Nigeria has experienced a phenomenal rise in the population of city dwellers without a corresponding increase in housing units which has consequently led to an acute shortage of habitable dwelling places in most cities over the past three decades. In many cases where you have available housing units, they are often expensive and remain uninhabited due to unaffordability. This results in overcrowding, homelessness, inadequate and poor infrastructure, poor living conditions, increased rate of poverty and its associated social vices.
In 1991, Nigeria established a new housing policy that was intended to provide solutions to the housing problems of her growing population. Twenty years later, the government confessed its inability to achieve the then set objectives and sought to review the National Housing Policy. In 2012, Nigeria got her latest National Housing Policy which promised Nigerians real mass housing. Till date, the new housing policy formulated to provide housing for even the poorest of Nigerians has not been implemented,” the report added.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/10/27/poll-nigerians-seek-govt-intervention-to-regulate-house-rent/