Rent structure of residential property: Do the quality of internal aesthetic really count?

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the rent structure of residential properties (tenements, bungalows and flats) vis-à-vis their variance across six different neighbourhoods in Minna, Niger State using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance test. Secondly by its exploratory nature, 290 samples of residential properties were drawn to determine the types and quality (using multi-dimensional scaling) of their internal aesthetic and the impact of such quality on rent variance within the study area. An interesting result of this study is that aside Sabon –Gari, a inner-core neighbourhood, variability in rent distribution is greatest for properties in F-Layout with such variability decreases with increasing distance from the inner part of Minna where FLayout is located to further away locations such as Bosso Estate, Dutsen Kura Hausa, Tudun Fulani and Okada road. Within this purview, internal aesthetics account for 16.7% of the total variation in residential rents in the study area. As such property owners and real estate investors must rise to the challenge of improving the quality of internal aesthetics of dwellings especially in Sabon-gari, Tudufulani and Dutsen-Kura to be at parity with other neighbourhoods. This is against the backdrop that the rental price of a house depends of the utility and satisfaction embodied and derived from such aesthetics and these are differently priced by tenants.