Evaluation of Residents’ View on Affordability of Public Housing in Awka and Onitsha, Nigeria

The perception of the occupants in public housing estates in Awka and Onitsha towns in Anambra State was evaluated using Adam’s Equity Theory that hinges on balancing inputs and outputs. The thrust of this study lies on affordability. The survey of the study area revealed 2,805 occupants comprising mainly housewives and 2,805 house units. The sample size, derived from Taro Yamani technique was 842 and from this figure, stratified random sampling was adopted to arrive at the obtained data. Complete responses were 797 comprising 299 occupants in Awka and 498 occupants in Onitsha. A 21-item structured questionnaire on public housing (QPH) consisting of six (6) sections was developed, which consisted of 5-point Likert rating scale ranging from 1-5 in which respondents indicated the extent of their perception of listed variables. The mid-point of 3 implied that any result significantly different from this mean value was assumed to be either positive or negative. This instrument was face and content validated. Cronbach Alpha Technique index was used for reliability test which gave a value of 0.90. A pre-test on a sample of 30 respondents of one non-studied public housing estate was conducted. The research questions were processed using percentages, means, Chi-square, Contingency Table Analysis (CTA) and One way Categorical Data Analysis of Variance (CATANOVA), while the hypotheses were tested using Z-test. The results of this study show that (1). The 49.3%, of occupants responding positively to affordability of public housing in Onitsha is greater than the 44.5%, responding positively to it in Awka. It can then be stated from this work that in planning a housing estate such checklists as affordability, should be included so as to satisfy the major stakeholders and the occupants. Key terms: Evaluation, view, affordability (in terms of cost of housing), public housing, Nigeria