ASSESSMENT OF PRIVATE HOUSING ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING STANDARD IN ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCIL, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assesses the private housing estate development and planning standard in Abuja municipal area council, with a view to providing decent, safe, healthy and affordable housing environment. The objectives of this study are to assess the levels of conformity to local plans and building regulations by private developer and identify the challenges influencing the performance of the private housing developers in the study area. The research instruments include in-depth fieldwork, observation, questionnaire administration and interview. A total of four hundred and thirteen (413) residents of the thirteen (13) selected residential was randomly selected for the study. And thirteen (13) management staff from the selected estates were also selected purposively for the study. The questionnaire was retrieved and analyzed. Inferential statistics such as mean Value techniques were used to analyze data collected for the study. The result of the study revealed that majority of the residents in the selected estates were medium income earners. The identified difficulties experienced by the developers includes lack of secure access to land, limited access to finance, high cost of construction, high cost of land registration and titling, development control, affordability gap, slow bureaucratic procedures and Lack of awareness programmes. Also the level of conformity to local plan and planning standard was moderate. Among others the research recommends that the government should provide suitable policy for design policy that will be favorable to the developer and also make housing loan accessible to the masses. If these recommendations can be followed, it will address challenges and difficulties encountered by estate developers and residents.