Resolving The Homeownership Quagmire Of Low- Income Households Through Incremental Housing Development Strategy: Perspectives From Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Apart from housing being a desirable basic necessity of man, it is also ingrained in the African culture that “a man is not a man until he has a house of his own”. Saying like this reinforced the importance the African society places on homeownership. Meanwhile considering the huge funding required for housing development, the dysfunctional mortgage system, and weak institutional framework, the low-income households are inevitably left out in the homeownership race. In order to solve the homeownership problem, the low-income households engage in self-help minimal housing construction which they extend and improve as resources become available and as need for better structure becomes a priority. Such strategy which is referred as incremental housing development strategy and mostly being use by low-income household is bedevilled with many challenges since the development process takes a relative long period of time before completion. This study examine the process involve in incremental housing development strategy and its associated challenges. This is with a view of providing information that will enhance homeownership in Nigeria. A quantitative research design will be adopted to elicit information from households in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The result will show the process of incremental housing development and the relative duration at the different construction stages. It will also show the challenges encountered adopting the strategy.