Abstract

Most low-income families lack access to decent housing. This is reflected in the number of residents who are tenants of private housing developers. A major component of the public housing scheme should be for low-income individuals. In southeastern Nigeria, the main public low-income housing estates are located in the state Capitals – Abakiliki, Awka, Enugu, Owerri, Umuahia, and most of the region's commercial towns, such as Aba, Onitsha, and Okigwe. There is a mismatch in the housing allocation and distribution among the low-income population. The mechanism and precarious scenario of low-income building accessibility become worrisome to stakeholders. The data collection used a quantitative phase of structured questionnaires distributed to the residents and landlords of the 8 low-income housing estates selected from 23 public low-income housing estates (PLIHEs). The structured questionnaire was distributed to state and federal housing corporations. The results indicated a gap between the number of low-income houses built and the number of low-income housing applicants, signifying that a large shortfall of 2648 low-income houses was needed to match low-income housing applicants. Additionally, more than 70% of the low-income housing estates were not low-income in southeastern Nigeria, indicating the failure of the existing allocation model. To improve the shortfalls of low-income housing due to eligibility and allocation, a low-income housing allocation model was proposed using discrete judgmental values of stated policy goals (the nature of the applicant’s occupation, income, age of applicant, and waiting) and objectives. The eligibility and allocation of low-income housing were observed to be unsatisfactory.