Environmental value and housing choices: drivers of sustainable housing adoption among Muslim civil servants in Ethiopia

Purpose This study aims to identify the key factors affecting sustainable house adoption by Muslim civil servants in Ethiopia. These findings provide insights into how the income level, environmental awareness, sustainable land policy, security, and infrastructure of Muslim civil servants potentially influence housing adoption. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative approach. We used a technique called partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse the data. The main exogenous variables in this study were income level, environmental awareness, government land policy, affordability, security and infrastructure. These were derived from existing theoretical frameworks of sustainable housing adoption. The researchers collected 370 structured questionnaires using a five-point Likert scale from a sample of civil servants to gather information on sustainable housing adoption in Ethiopia. Findings The results revealed that civil servants’ income levels, environmental awareness, government sustainable land policy, security, and infrastructure positively influenced sustainable housing adoption among Muslim civil servants in Ethiopia. Conversely, this study shows that affordability has a positive but insignificant effect on sustainable housing adoption by Muslim civil servants in Ethiopia. Practical implications The Federal Housing Corporation (FHC) and the Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure (MUDI) in Ethiopia collaborate with financial institutions to establish a Sharia-based formal housing finance system for Muslim civil servants. They also created a comprehensive framework for understanding the influencing factors, aiding the establishment of a formal sustainable housing finance system focusing on affordable and environmentally sustainable options, and promoting collaboration among various housing agencies for sustainable development. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to theoretically identify the drivers of sustainable housing adoption among Muslim civil servants in Ethiopia.