CORP – Competence Center of Urban and Regional Planning
Abstract
Access to a home by way of owner occupier, lease and social security is an inherent right of man. However, homelessness is a visible social problem which occurs to varying degrees all over the world. A recent attempt to encourage sharing of unoccupied rooms through a proposed extra bedroom tax allowance among council tenants was strongly resisted in Britain in 2013. This paper attempt to carry out an empirical study to examine the peoples’ take on a proposed sharing option among tenants of a public housing Estate in a Mega City where homelessness is rife and continually spreading. Using Lagos as an example, data were collected from 76 household tenants of a government owned residential estate in Ikeja. It applies Factor Analysis to analyse the factors affecting peoples’ attitude to the home sharing option. Findings reveal that the major factors affecting decisions to share are issues of rent payment, bills payment, conflicts and chores, although all other factors are related although their contribution is insignificant. Also, 57 of the respondents do not have a spare room to share while those with extra unoccupied rooms are unwilling to share. The policy implication is that people cherish their privacy more particularly when they are paying a mid-market rent. It recommends the provision of more social housing to enhance the accessibility of property rights of thehomeles
