Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online) Vol.3, No.20, 2013 1 Challenges of Housing Delivery in Metropolitan Lagos Enisan Olugbenga, Ogundiran Adekemi (EnisanOlugbenga, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. enisangbenga@yahoo.com) (OgundiranAdekemi, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. kemiogundiran2001@yahoo.co.uk) 1 ABSTRACT The need for adequate and decent housing is now part of the central focus and an integral component in National strategies for growth and poverty reduction. Decent and affordable housing is one of the basic needs of individuals, family and the community at large. As a pre-requisite to the survival of man, housing ranks second only to food. Housing as a unit of the environment has a profound influence on the health, efficient, social behaviour, satisfaction and general welfare of the community at large. It reflects the cultural, social and economic value of the society as it is the best physical and historical evidence of civilization in a country. The importance of housing in every life of human being and in national economy in general is enormous. Housing problem in Africa especially in Nigeria is not only limited to quantities but also qualities of the available housing units environment. It is in view of this that the paper views the challenges of housing delivery in the Lagos Metropolis. This was done by carrying out the inventory of housing delivery mechanism in Metropolitan Lagos in the past. Factors affecting housing delivery were also analyzed. It was discovered that land play a major role in ensuring effective housing delivery. The paper suggests that government need to pay urgent attention to all institutions that is responsible for housing delivery in ensuring that everybody has access to a decent place of abode. Keywords: Housing Delivery, Housing Sector, Shelter, Urban Land, Urbanization 2 INTRODUCTION The rate of urbanization in Nigeria has been on the increase in the last two decades. The proportion of the country population living in urban centres has increased phenomenally over the years. While only 7% of Nigerians lived in urban centres in the 1930s, and 10% in 1950s, by 1970, 1980 and 1990, 20%, 27% and 35% lived in the cities respectively (Okupe, 2002). Over 40% of Nigerians now live in urban centers of varying sizes. The incidence of this population in urban centers has created severe housing problems, resulting in overcrowding in inadequate dwellings, and in a situation in which 60% of Nigerians can be said to be “houseless persons” (FGN, 2004). This structure created a lot of pressure on social services and infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, water supply, health services, housing, etc.Housing sector plays a critical role in the development of an economy and it is one of the most important basic needs of man (Mehmet, 2009). It is an obligation for any good government to provide affordable accommodation to its citizens. There is need for the government of the nation to ensure affordable accommodation to citizen irrespective of their location in the country. The statistics of homelessness is the best we deserve; currently many cannot afford a decent home, nearly half of Nigeria's population lives in urban and semi-urban areas, with majority living in slums and substandard accommodation.However, Mabogunje (2002) assertedin government white paper on housing and urban development that government had undertaken some significant steps in meeting the demand for housing. Those efforts from then till now have very limited impact on the housing needs, especially for the low and middle income groups. Despite the significance of housing, adequate supply has remained a mirage to all carder of the society in Nigeria. The situation is very particular to most developing countries where population grow at exponential rate and rapid urbanization becoming a norm, and discrepancy in housing need and supply is high. Various authorities have proffered strategies for improving housing delivery in Nigeria. Fasakin (1998) suggested the cooperative housing model while Oduwaye (1998) advocate for simple land allocation system and Omole (2001) suggested affordable financing model. Towards this end, it is clear that Nigerian government and other players in the housing delivery are not treading the same path; other countries tread in meeting up the housing needs of their citizenry.