PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF MINIMUM HOUSING STANDARDS IN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

Abstract

Housing is vital for the sustenance of humankind. Despite the significance of housing and formal conventional interventions, adequate supply has remained a mirage to all cadres of the society in Nigeria. Consequently, the discrepancy in housing need and supply is high. The Nigerian housing question has reached a crisis, manifesting and expressing itself in quantitative and qualitative dimensions. While several studies have examined the level of compliance with minimum housing standards and development controls, little or no effort has been made to explore the public perception of minimum housing standards. This study, therefore, aimed at filling this gap by documenting the public perception of minimum housing standards in Benin City. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. A total of 365 respondents were used as subjects for the study. The study made use of frequency count, percentages and analysis of variance to analyse the research objective and hypothesis raised for the study. The study revealed that the respondent's perception of minimum housing standards was greatly influenced by their spatial locations in Benin City.