Determinants of Residential Satisfaction among Public Housing Estates in Owerri, Imo State.

Abstract

Housing is a basic requirement for the realisation of better quality of life and standard of living. Adequate and decent housing determines the psychosocial, physical and spiritual satisfaction of the residents on the one hand, and predicts their socio-economic and emotional status, privacy and security on the other. This study is aimed at investigating the determinants of residential satisfaction among the residents of public housing estates in Owerri; and the objectives of the study are to evaluate the physical attributes of the public housing estates as well as appraise the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the residents of public housing estates in Owerri. A systematic random sampling technique is adopted to administer 324 questionnaires to residents of the public housing estates in Owerri Imo State, Nigeria. Data analysis is done with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study reveals that there is a very strong and positive relationship between socio-economic/demographic characteristics of the residents and the level of housing satisfaction in the study area (N = 324, p = .05, r = .989). However, further indepth analysis of individual indicators indicates that the relationship between gender and housing satisfaction is very strong (r = .993), as women tend to express higher housing satisfaction than men. The study also reveals that although occupation is a very weak determinant of housing satisfaction (r = -.165), relationship between income and residential satisfaction in the study area is strong (r = .581), indicating that the higher the income of the residents, the higher their level of housing satisfaction. Age and marital status are having fair and positive relationship with housing satisfaction (r = .492 and r = .472 respectively), indicating that older residents tend to be more satisfied with their dwelling units than the younger residents; while married occupants experience higher residential satisfaction in the estates. However, the study shows that household size (r = .065) have weak and negative relationship with housing satisfaction among public housing residents in Owerri, indicating that larger household size does not necessarily lead to residential dissatisfaction among residents of public housing estates in Owerri. The study, therefore, suggests the need to encourage women and youth participation in public housing estates development in the study area. The need to also evolve and implement financial empowerment programmes on the residents of the estates in the study area is also recommended. Owing to the scope of this study, the relationship between weather conditions, housing design and proximity to places of work and the level of residents' satisfaction in the study area are not explored. Further studies are recommended to appraise these important factors