7 In 10 Nigerian Adults Live In Rented Accomodation
Latest snap poll results released by NOIPolls Limited have revealed that slightly more than half (51%) of adult Nigerians surveyed currently pay to live in a rented apartment, while a considerable proportion of adult Nigerians (31%) claimed “they live in their personal house”which may have been built, bought or even inherited. More findings revealed that the vast majority of Nigerians (85%) have shown keen interest in mortgaging as an option of owning personal houses. On the contrary, 15%would not consider owning a house through mortgage financing mainly due to “unstable income”. An assessment on the amount paid in rent revealed that irrespective of geo-political zone, the larger proportion of Nigerians(40%) mainly pay between ‘N20,001 – N100,000′ as rent yearly; though a considerable proportion of residents especially in the North-Central zone pay much higher. In addition, half (50%) of the respondents interviewed showed awareness of mortgage as an option of owning a house in the country. These were some of the key findings from the Housing Snap Poll conducted.
Brief Background
Housing as a basic human need and as very vital aspect of any country’s economy can be examined in terms of quality and quantity. While the quality of housing is an important factor within Nigeria, the challenge of housing delivery is mostly seen in the shortage of housing stock i.e. housing quantity. The problems of the population explosion, rural-urban migration and lack of basic infrastructure required for a good standard of living have compounded housing problems in Nigeria over the years. Although the government at various times have instituted policies and programs to meet the housing demands of Nigerians, adequate housing delivery is still a far cry away as a result of certain factors such as; poor environmental quality, corruption, bureaucracy, inconsistency of policies, poor implementation of housing programs and high cost of building materials.
While the role of finance in housing provision cannot be overemphasized, it is worthy of note that access to such finance by a large proportion of the population who are low and middle income earners is still a mirage. High interest rates and lack of commitment on the part of commercial banks to finance housing projects or long term mortgage loans are militating against a stable housing finance system. In light of this, efforts are continually being made to increase the housing stock and housing delivery to Nigerians by private developers, consortiums and government by way of low cost housing schemes. For instance the Federal Government recently launched the first 10,000 mortgages for the commencement of the Presidential Initiative on the delivery of affordable housing units to Nigerians as part of the Federal Government’s effort to fulfil its promise of providing affordable houses to Nigerians.
Findings
Respondents to the poll were asked five specific questions. With the aim of ascertaining the current state of accommodation in Nigeria, respondents were required to provide their accommodation status. Findings revealed that slightly more than half (51%) of the respondents indicated ‘they currently pay to live in a rented apartment, while 31% confirmed that ‘they live in their personal house’; respondents in this category may have built or purchased their houses or may have acquired it by inheritance. In addition, 11% claimed they ‘live with family/friend in a personal house’ while 4% reported they ‘live with family/friend in a rented house’
Analysis by geo-political zone revealed that a higher proportion of residents in the South-East (66%), South-South (62%), South-West (59%) and North-Central (51%) currently pay to live in rented apartments. On the other hand, almost an equal proportion of residents in the North-West and North-East zones either own their houses or pay to live in a rented apartment.
To ascertain the amount paid as rent, respondents who currently live in a rented apartment (51% of the total) were further asked: Thinking about the cost of housing, what is the cost of renting your house yearly? The outcome establishes that the larger proportion(40%) of those who live in a rented house pay between ’N20,001 – N100,000’ as rent yearly. This is followed by 16% of the respondents who affirmed they pay between ‘100,001 – 180,000′ and 12% who admitted they pay between ‘N180,001 – N260,000′ as rent yearly. Only 9% of the respondents surveyed acknowledged that they pay ‘N340,000′ and above as rent yearly
Evaluation from the geo-political zone standpoint shows that the standard range of amount paid on rent across all geopolitical zones is between ‘N20,001 – N100,000′ yearly, however, the North-East zone has the highest proportion (52%) of respondents who pay between’N20,001 – N100,000′ as rent yearly. In addition, the South-East zone accounted for the highest proportion (23%) of respondents who pay between ‘N100,001 – N180,000′; the South-South zone has the highest proportion (21%) of residents who pay between ‘N180,001 – N260,000′while the North-Central zone accounted for the highest proportion (19%) of respondents who pay ‘N340,000′ Naira and above as rent yearly.
With the aim of measuring the awareness of Nigerians on housing mortgage, respondents were asked: Are you aware of mortgage as an option of owning a house in Nigeria? The outcome reveals that half (50%) of adult Nigerians surveyed are aware of mortgage as an option of owning a house in the country this cuts across gender and geo-political zone. Further analysis by age revealed that respondents aged 60 years and above showed more awareness on mortgage as option of owning a house, whereas respondents aged 18 – 21 years were least aware of mortgage in Nigeria.
Respondents who were not aware of mortgage were introduced to the concept and all respondents were further asked: Would you consider owning a house through mortgage financing? The findings indicate that more than 8 in 10 Nigerians would like to own a house through mortgage financing and this cuts across gender and geo-political zones. On the contrary, 15% of those interviewed would not consider owning a house through mortgage financing.
It is also worthy to note that respondents aged between 18 – 21 years are least interested in owning a house through mortgage (57%).
Finally, respondents who would not consider owning a house through mortgage (15% of the total) were further asked: Why would you not consider using mortgage financing for owning a house? Responses revealed that a higher proportion of respondents (28%) who would not consider owning a house through mortgage stated ‘they do not have a stable income’, (18%) affirmed that ‘they are not interested’, (17%) would not consider mortgage due to “High interest rate on mortgage loan” while (12%) believe owning a house through mortgage financing ‘is expensive’
More female (31%) than male (20%) respondents who would not consider mortgage as an option for owning a house ‘do not have a stable income’. Further analysis by geo-political zone shows that the highest proportion of respondents who would not consider mortgage financing due to unstable income were from the South-West (42%) and South-East (41%) zones, while a higher proportion of residents in the North-East zone who would not consider mortgage as an option of owning a house are either ‘not interested’ (58%) or believe mortgage loans attracts‘high interest rate’ (42%).
In conclusion, the recent poll results have revealed that 51% of adult Nigerians surveyed claimed that ‘they currently pay to live in a rented apartment’ while 31% reported ‘they live in their personal house’. More findings revealed that the majority (40%) of Nigerians who live in a rented house pay between ‘₦20,001 – ₦100,000’ as rent yearly. Further findings show that half (50%) of the respondents interviewed are aware of mortgage as an option of owning a house in the country while, 50% stated that they are not aware of such option. In addition, 85%of Nigerians would like to own a house through mortgage financing and this cuts across gender and geo-political zones. On the contrary, 15% were not willing to consider owning a house through mortgage financing as a higher proportion of respondents in this category claimed ‘they do not have a stable income’.
