Abstract

The provision of housing stands as a pivotal indicator of a Nation's development, constituting both an economic and a social responsibility aimed at ensuring adequate shelter for all members of a society. In Gombe metropolis, there is a dearth of affordable housing particularly within the low-income working class, this shortage of housing is exacerbated by the massive exodus of Boko haram victims in the north eastern Nigeria that rendered many people homeless forcing them to seek for shelters in the neighbouring States, this phenomenon if left unchecked could lead to the proliferation of slums. The approach used in this research is a quantitative method, data was collected with a survey questionnaire and analysed with SPSS and Excel. The findings underscore the prevalent challenge of housing affordability, with a mere 24.2% which is equivalent to 15 out of 62 respondents reporting to have a dwelling of their own. The primary determinant that influence housing choice among the respondents in the study area encompassed rental pricing (affordability), proximity to infrastructure, and security parameters within the study area. The present spike in the cost of traditional building materials and commodities makes the problem of house affordability unsolvable, to sufficiently address the housing affordability crisis and environmental difficulties in the study area, it is imperative for locals, professionals, and the Government to identify alternate policies and sustainable building materials such as straw bale which is often wrongly disposed through burning contributing to the effects of climate change. Rice straw bale hold promises in the region, given its abundance in the area, such measures if implemented effectively can aid in improving the housing affordability challenge within Gombe metropolis. Thus, Gombe State as a significant producer of rice can therefore utilize the straw bales of the harvested rice to provide sustainable and cost-effective mass housing. furthermore, engagement of private sector, improvement of income level, facilitating access to mortgage financing and loans, friendly modalities of Government provided house payments, fostering positive societal attitudes, and effecting policy enhancements by Governmental bodies were also suggested as the ways to mitigate the looming housing in the region.