32
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.
33
delinquency, arson, drug addiction and absolute low standard of living. Nutrition and sanitation are magnified and come to dominate the entire environment (Aluko,2004).
These areas are also referred to as informal, unauthorised or illegal sector. They are akin to slums and are usually occupied by migrants from other regions of the country or from some of the neighbouring countries. The residents are mostly engaged in lowly pay jobs.
Houses within the sector are largely illegal or unauthorised because their construction contravenes the city‘s housing construction codes on materials used and technique employed.
The ownership structures within the sector are dominated by the extended family system.
These areas also displayed the worst environmental and housing conditions with the city‘s haphazard distribution of houses which hardly leaves space between the units. In Lagos State, these are mostly found in places like Lagos Island, Mushin, Ajegunle, Oshodi and Okokomaiko.
Medium Density Residential Areas
These are inhabited by upper and middle-income households. The areas are relatively good with minimum density. The average number of rooms is three with average number of persons in the household as 6.2 (ratio 1:2.1). Most of the buildings consist of blocks of flats, 2-3 building floors and some multipurpose/ rooming houses. The buildings are averagely maintained (Aluko, 2004).In Lagos, these areas can be found in places like Yaba/Ebute Metta ,Ikeja,Isolo,Apapa, Gbagada and Awumo-Odofin .
Low Density Residential Areas
This comprises high-quality neighbourhood and community environment. The buildings are usually well-maintained and provided with neighbourhood facilities. In essence it commands high value. The areas are of low density and well-planned. The average number of rooms is 4-6, average number of persons in the household is 6.1 (Aluko, 2004). The ratio is about 1:1.3. This area is characterised by decreasing residential density of single family dwelling, affluent members of the city, essentially the middle-income class of white collar employees and professional people. The area has a proper layout, good infrastructure and sufficient social amenities. The area can be regarded as a high-cost sector because the housing environment is neat and top-class with neighbourhoods that are dominated by modern single- storey family houses. The sector caters predominantly for top civil and public servants and expatriates. During, and in the colonial era, it used to be the preferred place for Europeans and other foreign settlers. Home ownership within the high-cost sector is primarily individual or nuclear family. These are found in places like Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Magodo.
34
3.3.1 Structure and Characteristics of Lagos Housing Market
Housing market in Lagos State is predominantly characterised by rental tenurial arrangement.
The real estate market in the State is basically dominated by residential property whose construction was driven primarily by profit motive of the estate managers and housing developers. From Table 3.3, it is observed that rented houses constitute over 80% of the entire housing market. For example, houses where normal rents are paid account for about 50% while that of subsidised and free rents are 32.7% and 3.4% respectively whereas owner-occupier houses are just 13.9%. The proportion of home ownership is small relative to rental houses. The percentage of rented houses is high in all the residential density areas with high residential density area having 90%, medium residential area with 81% and low residential density area with 72.7%. This is further supported by table 3.4 where households renting the dwelling at market rent constitute about 50% of the entire housing market while 32.2% of the households pay nominal/subsidised rent. The prevalence of the rental tenurial arrangement can be attributed to private sector participation in the housing provision as compared to government sector whose contribution to total housing stock is negligible particularly after the federal government introduced structural adjustment programme (SAP) in the late 1980s. the private sector‘s ultimate goal of maximizing personal profits, explains why attention is accorded rental houses which were believed to produce constant flow of income than to building for owner-occupation. In essence, the production of houses is for investment rather than consumption decision. This explains why buildings for owner-occupation is more prominent in low residential density areas, than in high and medium residential density areas as depicted in Table 3.3. It is, however, interesting to note that most of owner-occupier houses are owned by household heads who constitutes 13.8% in low residential density areas, 5.1% in high and 11.5% in medium residential density areas respectively. Subsidised houses are higher in the high residential density areas than any other residential area while free rents appear to be dominant in low residential density areas.
35
Table 3.4: Percentage of Households’ Tenure Status Cross-classified by Residential Density Areas
VARIABLES
FREQUENCIES (percent) High
Residential Density Area
Medium Residential Density Area
Low Residential Density Area
Total
Tenure Status
Owner-occupier 166(7.5%) 382(15.7%) 288(21.3%) 836(13.9%) Normal rent 1212(54.7%) 1203(49.4%) 585(43.3%) 3000(50%) Subsidised rent 793(35.8%) 770(31.6%) 397(29.4%) 1960(32.7%)
Free rent 46(2.1%) 77(3.2%) 80(5.9%) 203(3.4%)
Others 0(0%) 1(0%) 1(0.1%) 2(0%)
Total 2217(100%) 2433(100%) 1350(100%) 6000(100%) Source: Computed from Lagos Housing Survey, (2006)
Table 3.5: Percentage of Households’ Ownership Status Cross-classified by Residential Density Areas
VARIABLES
FREQUENCIES (percent) High
Residential Density Area
Medium Residential Density Area
Low Residential Density Area
Total
Ownership by Tenure Status Dwelling s owned by head
113(5.1%) 280(11.5%) 186(13.8%) 579(9.6%) Dwellings owned by
head & spouse
16(0.7%) 32(1.3%) 28(2.1%) 76(1.3%)
Dwellings by owned spouse
6(0.3%) 17(0.7%) 7(0.5%) 30(0.5%)
Dwelling owned by another member of household
37(1.7%) 70(2.9%) 74(5.5%) 181(3.0%)
Household rents: the dwelling at market rent
1212(54.7%) 1203(49.4%) 585(43.3%) 3000(50%)
Household rents: the dwelling and pays nominal/subsidised rent
787(35.3%) 753(30.9%) 390(28.9%) 1930(32.2%)
Uses without paying rent
46(2.1%) 77(3.2%) 80(5.9%) 203(3.4%)
Nomadic or
temporary dwelling
0(0%) 1(0%) 1(0.1%) 2(0%)
Total 2217(100%) 2433(100%) 1350(100%) 6000(100%) Source: Computed from Lagos Housing Survey,(2006)
36
Table 3.6 and 3.7 present the various types of housing vis-a-vis tenurial status. The tables depicted clearly that rental houses remain the predominant form of tenurial arrangement in all the various housing types but in varying degrees. For instance, single-household houses recorded about 62.8% in this category while multi-household houses, flats, duplexes, rooms in the main dwelling and squatters‘ settlements recorded as much as 84.7%, 76.3%, 78.5%
86.7% and 85.9% respectively. What is clear from this is that most of the housing types in Lagos are rented houses. The case of subsidising house rents is prominent in multi-household houses than in any other housing type as reflected in the table.
Table 3.6: Percentage of Households’ Tenure Status Cross-classified by Residential Housing Choice
Variables
FREQUENCIES (percent) Single
Househ old House
Multi- Househo ld House
Flats Duplex Rooms in
the main building
Squatters
’
Settleme nt
Others Total
Tenure status Owner- occupier
93 (28.1%)
360 (12.1%)
149 (20.8%)
51 (19.2%)
152 (10.1%)
7 (9.9%) 24 (18.6%)
836 (13.9%) Normal
rent
154 (46.5%)
1473 (49.4%)
304 (42.5%)
138 (52.1%)
818 (54.2%)
39 (54.9%)
74 (57.4%)
3000 (50%) Subsidised
rent
54 (16.3%)
1052 (35.3%)
242 (33.8%)
70 (26.4%)
491 (32.5%)
22 (31.0%)
29 (22.5%)
1960 (32.7%) Free rent 29
(8.8%)
95 (3.2%)
20 (2.8%)
6 (2.3%) 48 (3.2%)
3 (4.2%) 2 (1.6%) 203 (2.7%) Others 1 (0.3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.1%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (2%)
Total 330
(100%)
2980 (100%)
715 (100%)
265 (100%)
1510 (100%)
71 (100%)
129 (100%)
6000 (100%) Source: Computed from Lagos Housing Survey, (2006)
37
Table 3.7: Percentage of Households’ Ownership by Tenure Status Cross-classified by Residential Housing Choice
Source: Computed from Lagos Housing Survey,(2006) Note: D.O.- Dwelling Owned by; HH-Household
3.4 Background Information about Dwellings in the Local Government Councils in