Success indicators of housing developers in reaching out to low income earners; a case study of urbanis africa: Jamii bora makao.

Abstract

The context of this research study is housing especially for the low income households.The problem of housing has become an everyday discussion in all quarters of the public and private sectors of the developing countries of Africa. It has become increasingly glaring that most of the urban population live in dehumanizing housing environment while those that have access to average housing do so at abnormal cost.

Housing is considered a right and therefore, an obligation of governments to provide for its citizenry. While the provision of housing is still low, the country still has provided a number of policies to provide housing for those in need. The overall demand for housing according to a UNHABITAT survey is 150,000 housing units as compared to 35,000 housing units being delivered in the market. The supply shortage has left private developers focusing on highest return market segments which are the upper income class.

It has been cited that the housing problem cannot be solved starting at the bottom because the poor will still be overshadowed. Houses meant for the lower end could still be snapped up by individuals in the higher income class thereby distorting prices and displacing the target market.

This study discusses the success indicators of housing developers in reaching out to low income earners. The success indicators include the number of housing units developed as well as the housing models used. The study further highlights the various challenges that have faced such developers within the country.

The study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one covers the introductory part of the research including: abstract,background information, statement of the problem, objectives, research questions and significance of the study. Chapter two covers the review of existing literature on low income housing as well as the various lifestyle theories as it narrows down to the study area using the theoretical framework. In chapter three, research methodology is outlined. Chapter four covers data analysis and presentation. Chapter five coversconclusions and recommendations from the research as well as a discussion of research efforts that need to be made in the future.

This research used a case study approach. It involved picking a unit that was typical to others, studying it intensely then making conclusions. Both qualitative and quantitative research design was used where data was collected in the form of numbers as well as words. A structured questionnaire was administered to respondents who were required to fill it and return. An interview was carried out with the manager to get more detailed data on the issues under study. Additional

secondary data was obtained from housing developers, agencies as well as books and journals.

From the main findings, there is still a very big deficit in the number of low income housing units developed. This therefore means that the government needs to allocate more resources to counter this deficit.