Substandard Housing Contributory Factors: Analysing Scenarios in Neighbourhoods of Port Harcourt Municipality, Nigeria

The study assessed substandard housing contributory factors of neighbourhoods in Port Harcourt municipality, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to identify factors that are contributing to substandard housing in Port Harcourt municipality; assess the impact of contributory factors to substandard housing in the study area; and identify physical planning measures to improve substandard housing in the study area. The study employed quantitative research approach and experimental research design for collection and analyses of data in the study. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used for collection of data. Slovin formula was used to determine the sample size and a total of 399 respondents (households) were interviewed from three grouped neighbourhoods and communities (planned neighbourhoods, indigenous enclaves and waterfront communities). The revealed the contributory factors to substandard housing in the study area are low income, large household size, multiple households in a building, limited habitable rooms per household, building construction materials, rapidly deteriorating physical condition of buildings, and sharing of facilities by households in buildings. The study also revealed the impacts of these factors include urban neighbourhoods and communities are deteriorating into slum and squatter settlements and rapid defacing of the urban fabrics and landscape. The study makes the following recommendations to improve housing standards including regular physical assessment of buildings in the study area to ascertain their fitness for habitation; waterfront environment should be reclaimed and planned by government for residents’ easy accessibility and affordability; development control agencies should ensure residential buildings are developed according to approved plan and specifications; mortgage and financial institutions should grant soft and interest-free loans to low-income earners and the poor; government should prioritise the development of low-cost houses for low-income earners and poor citizens; social amenities and services should be provided to enhance housing and neighbourhood quality; and government and its agencies of urban development and physical planning as a matter of urgency carry out spatial reorganisation through urban renewal programmes and projects at various neighbourhoods and communities