Perceived Effects of 1978 Land Use Act Provisions on Sustainable Housing Development in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the implementation of the 1978 Land Use Act provision that assured access to land to every Nigerian, especially for housing development, the citizens are still faced with inadequate housing provision. The study examined the effects of State Ownership of Land, Governor’s Consent, Customary Rights of Occupancy, Revocation of Land Rights, and other related provisions of the 1978 Land Use Act on sustainable housing development, with focus on housing affordability and access to housing services in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a mixed research approach by employing quantitative and qualitative research methods to collect data from 271 stakeholders on the perceptions of the Act provisions, housing affordability, and access to housing services, using a simple random sampling technique. Data were analysed using descriptive tools like means, frequency, and inferential tools, especially regression analysis. The mean score perceptions of the Act provisions showed that Governor’s consent (3.66), State Land Ownership (3.55), and customary rights of occupancy (3.45) are perceived as the most discriminating. While perceived housing affordability and access to housing services mean score showed that gross deficit of housing units (4.18) and house cost increases (4.11) are the most discriminating statements. However, the regression analysis result showed that 60.9% of the overall explanation for the variations in sustainable housing development in Lagos is provided by the perceived housing-related provisions of the Land Use Act. Therefore, the study concluded that the perceived effects of the Act provisions on sustainable housing development in Lagos include a gross deficit of housing units and increasing housing costs. It is recommended then to review the identified sections of the Land Use Act in line with the perceived housing-related provisions of the Act to ensure sustainable housing development in terms of increasing housing stocks at an affordable cost.