Socio-economic Characteristics of Residents and Households’ Accessibility to Housing Finance in Lagos Metropolis

The study examined the socio-economic characteristics of residents of Lagos metropolis as factors influencing housing finance accessibility in Lagos metropolis. This was with a view to providing information that could enhance housing development in the study area. Relevant data for the study were obtained through the administration of 535 copies of a set of questionnaire on the household heads, out of which 475 copies were fully completed and returned; representing 88.8% return-rate, across the three residential density zones of the study area. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that applicant’s stable employment (t=3.85), possession of land and title to land (t=2.11), applicant’s level of income (t=2.17), high level of financial involvement in housing project (t=3.27) were factors which significantly influenced housing finance accessibility at 0.05 level of significance. Results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) also show that there exit differences in the level of accessibility to housing finance among the three residential densities of high, medium and low with F-value of 7.425. P ≤ 0.01 (df = 2(39). The mean difference showed that low density residential area had better access to housing finance than the high-density area but there was no significant difference between the low-density area and the medium density residential area with respect to housing finance. The Chi-square (χ2) statistics further revealed that respondents’ occupation (χ2 = 69.27) and estimated monthly income (χ2 = 93.51) were the significant variables that influenced residents’ level of accessibility to housing finance at 0.01 level of significance.