Perception of Estate Residents’ of Their Housing Quality and the Neighbourhood Conditions in Greater Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Housing Quality is related to the functionality of the house and the various components of the house are interrelated. In Architecture, there is a popular saying that “form follows function”. This is very true for any dwelling unit. The daily operations in the dwelling unit must balance out to give the occupants maximum comfort. During the design process for a custom home, there is always an attempt to integrate form and function in the belief that form should follow function and not merely serve as an ornament.

The term, housing includes the house itself and the total surrounding environment with its ancillary facilities and services. The perception of the end user is very significant in housing production since they are the beneficiaries, so their views are equally important as stakeholders. The perception and satisfaction of private estates residents is critical in the housing industry. The research's objectives were to (1) To examine the perceptions of private estate residents about their neighbourhoods. (2) To examine the factors that determinants and give private estate residents satisfaction. (3) To engage estate residents and stalk holders in housing development by their involvement in discussions. The total number of private estate residents interviewed was 400 (ascertained field research). Primary sources comprised (a) a largely pre-coded questionnaire, administered face-to-face by trained interviewers, (b) Individual Depth Interviews (IDIs) of key informants, (c) direct observation, (c) measurement, and (d) photography. Secondary sources included: (a) unpublished and published material in past theses, books, journals, maps, etc; and (b) the Internet. The majority of the data analysis techniques used were univariate and multivariate statistical analytical techniques. The findings revealed that Estate residents' perceptions of their neighbourhood were assessed using a 5-point Agreement-Disagreement Likert Scale in relation to specific aspects of their estate. According to the findings, more than one-third of estate residents strongly agreed that their estates were attractive, despite the state of the aforementioned aspects. As a result, the research provides insight into the determinants of perceived estate attractiveness – information that prospective estate developers would find invaluable. Using Multiple Classification Analysis, the factors that determined the level of satisfaction were investigated, and 65% of the variance in resident satisfaction was explained. The study recommended that (1) Government should incorporate greener infrastructure in planning to enhance walkability, bike ability and ultimately the liveability of GPHC through the adoption of Tax Incentive programmes (TIP) for greener development. (2) Government should formulate policies and implement techniques that promote liveability in Greater Port Harcourt City. This can be accomplished by monitoring the project from start to finish during the approval of the building plan and building permit.processes. (3) Estate developers should arm themselves with present and available research that provides adequate data on estate residents' perceptions of their estate. This will allow estate developers to create estates that are both desirable and easily rentable.