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CHAPTER THREE

LAGOS HOUSING MARKET AND ITS QUALITY

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Efforts have been made by successive governments in Lagos State to provide accommodation but the emphasis varies from one regime to another. The governments in question have been helpless in providing adequate and low-cost housing since 1955 to date in the face of rapid population growth. For example, according to Adedokun (1982), the defunct Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB) could only provide a total of 4502 housing units in 17 years between 1955 and 1972 when the Board was dissolved, whereas the population of the state grew from about 1.2 million in 1960 to about 3.0 million in 1972, an increase of 2.8 million persons within just 12years.

The Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) undertakes housing provision in Lagos metropolis in particular and the entire state in general. The corporation was established under edict No.1 of 1972 after the merger of Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB), Ikeja Area Planning Authority (IAPA) and the Epe Town Planning Authority (ETPA). It has the following responsibilities,to promote: (i) Executive Income Housing Programme; (ii) Medium Income Housing Programme and; (iii) High Rental Housing Programme.

Since its inception, the activities of the corporation have been more pronounced in metropolitan Lagos other than in any part of the state. According to Abiodun (1988), between 1972 and 1975, LSDPC completed the following housing estates: (i) Surulere Medium-Income Houses (Games villages) ;(ii) Isolo Low and Medium-Housing Schemes; (iii) Ogba Housing Project; and (iv) Akerele Extension, Surulere (low-cost housing).

The contributions of the LSDPC to housing in Lagos metropolis between 1980 and 1997 amounted to 21,630 housing units. This is made up of 12,072, which are low- income houses, 1,798 medium-income houses and 760 houses for the upper-income earners (Lagos State Diary, 1997). These figures tend to show that more low-income housing units were provided than the other types (medium and high income). Observably, the prices of these houses are so high that they are not affordable to the low-income earners. Thus, these houses are usually purchased by the wealthy in the society, who in turn let out the buildings to the poor at exorbitant prices.

The first civilian administration in the state, which came to power in 1979, embarked on ambitious public housing project. The goal was to provide 200,000 housing units in the state between 1979 and 1983. However, Abiodun (1993) notes that ―at the end of the civilian administration in December 1983, 20685 applicants were given letters of allocation while only 10,428 housing units had been completed. Others were at various stages of construction.

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Table 3.1: Completed Housing Units by the Lagos State Government between 1998 and 2005

Housing Type/Year Economic Medium Upper Medium

High Total Jubilee Housing Scheme

1999 120 - 120

2000 1507 - 2515

2001 - 912 96 - -

Alliance Housing

2002 454 - - 454

2003 - - - -

2004 138 270 1560 - 1830

2005 - 68 52 64 321

Total 2219 1250 1708 64 5240

Source: Ministry of Housing, Alausa Ikeja,Jan, 2005.

The civilian administration which came to power in 1999 came up with the Millennium Housing Scheme. The goal was to ―provide numerous and affordable houses for teeming masses of Lagos state. The main objective was to make available 45,000 housing units within the lifetime of the administration. This number would comprise upper, medium and low income in the following ratios: 10: 20: 70, respectively. However, the Table 3.1 shows a wide difference between the total number of housing units promised by the government and the total number delivered to the populace. The Table shows that for six years (1999 to 2005), the Lagos State Government was able to deliever a total of 5240 housing units with 42% as low-income; 23.85% as medium-income and 1.22% as high-income housing units. Over 21,000 housing units are either under construction or are being proposed.

Another objective of the millennium housing scheme was to ensure that housing schemes were widespread to all local governments in Lagos State. As can be observed in Table 3.2 , this objective has been fairly fulfilled judging by the widespread nature of government‘s housing projects.

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Table 3.2: List of Proposed and Existing Housing Schemes in Lagos State

Schemes Economics Medium Upper

Medium

High Remarks

Area in hectare s

No of block

No of Units

No of block

No of Units

No of block

No of Units

No of block

No of Units

Total Units Millennium

mixed housing scheme Ikeja I

1.308 8 60 60 Uncompl

eted

Millennium mixed housing scheme Badagry

12.436 111 222 24 24 246 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Akanimodo Ajelogo

24.39 63 852 47 376 34 396 1624 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ojota

3.372 16 192 192 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ojokoro

8.363 16 192 192 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ikeja II

1.118 30 30 30 Uncompl

eted

Millennium mixed housing scheme Igbogbo

0.774 5 48 48 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ewu-elepe Ikorodu

7.24 85 170 170 Uncompl

eted

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ayobo

47.76 308 616 204 408 1024 Proposed

31 Millennium

mixed housing scheme Alaagba

1.217 8 96 96 Uncompl

eted

Millennium mixed housing scheme (Agege)

6.9 53 768 768 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ilupeju

1.0117 6 48 48 Uncompl

eted

Millennium mixed housing scheme Ajah

19.42 44 704 68 544 1248 Proposed

Ejintin Resettlement Scheme (Ikorodu)

27.73 41 63 631 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Olokonla

4.21 9 144 16 128 272 Proposed

Millennium mixed housing scheme Egan/Igando

16.307 66 20 160 1044 1204 Proposed

Total 6805 4965 3702 21484 Uncompl

eted Source: Ministry of Housing, Alausa, Ikeja, Jan., 2005

However, the crises in housing still persist due to exponential rate of growth in population.

According to the 1991 census, the population of Lagos State stood at 5.686 million. The projected populations for 2005 and 2010 were 16.095 million and 20.057 million, respectively (Table 3.3). UNCHS (1996) has predicts that Lagos metropolis will be the third largest city in the whole world in 2015 with a population figure of 24.5 million while Bombay in India will have 26.5 million and Tokyo in Japan will have 28.7 million. In addition, the population of Lagos metropolis accounted for about 88% of the state‘s population in 1978 and has increased to 90.98% in the year 2000. Lagos metropolis, no doubt, is overcrowded with people due to uncontrolled immigration from other parts of the

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country and within the state. According to Lagos State Diary (1997), the population growth rate is about 300,000 persons per annum with a population density of about 1308 persons per square kilometer. In the built-up urban areas, the average density is 20,000 persons per square kilometer. These figures show serious overcrowding in several parts of the state, underscoring the fact that Lagos State is the most densely populated part of the country.

Housing shortages have resulted in increasing pressures on infrastructural facilities and the rapidly deteriorating environment.

Table 3.3: Analysis of Population Growth of Lagos Metropolis 1978-2010

Year Metropolitan

Lagos(000)

Lagos State (000) Population of Lagos as percentage of that of the state.

1978 3779 4300 87.88

1980 4518 5092 88.72

1985 6414 7132 89.93

1990 8406 9290 90.92

1995 10406 11471 90.71

2000 12949 14232 90.98

2005* 15754 16903 93.20

2010** 19167 20075 95.47

Source: Master plan for metropolitan Lagos, Wilbur and Smith and Associates, 1980, 2005*, 2010** population projected assuming same growth rate between 1995 and 2010.