Average Monthly Income of Residents as A Predictor of Residents’ Satisfaction in Private Housing Estates in Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

Socioeconomic status of residents fashion their aspirations and contributes as they make housing decisions that influence their level of satisfaction. Interest in residents’ satisfaction study grew mainly with widespread consumer protection awareness over the years; thus, interests in housing has shifted from production to marketing, then to adaptation of housing output to the aspirations of the residents. The objective of this study was to investigate the average monthly income of residents and its relationship with residents’ satisfaction with level of maintenance of facilities in private housing estates in Enugu, with a view to providing appropriate feedback criteria meant for improving housing satisfaction in the design and development of private housing estates.  The methodology adopted for this research was survey design. The focus was on four private housing estates in Enugu metropolis randomly selected from the research population. After stratification, based on housing type, two hundred and fifty-six occupied housing units were randomly selected. Data was collected from primary sources using questionnaires and observation schedules. Average monthly income of residents (which is a socioeconomic variable) and residents’ satisfaction with level of maintenance of facilities were interval variables; therefore, Pearson Product Moment correlation tool was used to test the significance of the relationship. It was established that there is a significant relationship between average monthly income of residents and residents’ satisfaction with level of maintenance of facilities in the private housing. This implies that amount of money earned by residents affects their level of satisfaction with maintenance of facilities within the population of study. It was recommended that private housing rent be made affordable (i.e. 30% of average monthly income), so that the residents can afford maintenance of facilities in the estate, thereby achieve satisfaction. This is because availability of funds is of primary importance for the purposes of maintenance works.