Residents’ Facilities Satisfaction in Selected Public and Private Housing Estates in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

Abstract

Introduction and Statement of Problems: the resident’s housing satisfaction has been a perennial challenge among the city dwellers particularly in the developing countries. While studies have focused on other aspects of housing satisfaction, that which centers on the facilities satisfaction has not adequately researched in the literature. This study therefore, assessed residents’ satisfaction with facilities in public and private housing estates in Abuja. Methodology: The theory of housing satisfaction was used to anchor the study, which employed a case study research design and incorporated both primary and secondary data. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the public and private estates in the study area. The public estate, Hillside, had 172 housing units, while the private estate, Brains and Hammers, had 161 units. Using the Yaro Yamane formula, with a 5% margin of error, the total sample size for the survey for the two estates was reduced to 235. However, only 188 questionnaires were retrieved for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential (regression analysis) statistics were employed to analyze the data at p=0.05% confidence level.  Results: The findings revealed that a majority (44.2%) of respondents in the private housing estate reported a low level of facilities satisfaction, while a larger proportion (47.1%) in the public estate indicated moderate satisfaction. The quality of facilities was identified as the most significant factor affecting satisfaction, with 91.9% of respondents highlighting its importance. Additionally, the relationship between facilities satisfaction and housing satisfaction was found to be positive and significant, with a stronger correlation in the private estate (0.6799) compared to the public estate (0.2393). Residents reported several challenges affecting their facilities satisfaction, including poor maintenance culture, inadequacy of some facilities, and high water and electricity bills. Conclusion and Recommendation; The level of facilities satisfaction were found to be inadequate due to poor planning.  The study therefore, recommends that policymakers enact planning laws to ensure compliance and effective monitoring of facilities.