Assessment of residential housing choices, quality, and affordability in Calabar Metropolis, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose of the study: This paper examined the housing quality, its affordability as well as the housing choices which residents of Calabar can make. Housing needs in the city continue to rise in response to rapid urbanization rates and thus lead to high housing demands. Methodology: About 384 questionnaires were distributed randomly within six purposively delineated housing districts in Calabar with a 78 percent success rate. The stratification covered all the housing types, from the low to medium and the high classes. The coordinates of respondents were also collected for spatial analyses in which the inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method was used to create housing choice maps in the identified districts of the city. The Chi-square statistics were used to test the statistical significance of the created contingency tables. Main Findings: Significant relationship exist between housing affordability and housing quality ((f) = 11.463, p-value = 0.022 (p < 0.05)), and between average monthly income and expenditure on rented residential housing in Calabar ((f) = 539.473, p-value = 0.000 (p < 0.05)). Housing in the metropolis is not affordable to about 80% of residents who expend more than 30% of their income on housing. Applications of this study: This study helps shape the policy direction of government in housing provision and such, encourage private developers in the sector. Novelty/Originality of this study: Previous studies only addressed housing cost and provision, not a choice, quality, and affordability. This is the first study to address residential housing choices, quality, and affordability in the Calabar metropolis, involving a cross-sectional survey questionnaire. The results will be helpful to developers, homebuyers, and policymakers alike towards affordable housing delivery in Calabar and others. African cities.