71% of households do not have evidence to prove the ownership of their homes, according to the Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS) report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The survey shows that only 13% of households have title deeds; 9% have a survey plan, and 3% have payment receipts. A lack of proper documentation indicates houses that are either illegally owned or built.
The household data for the Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS). NLSS 2018-19 is the first large scale household survey in a decade, focusing on measuring the living conditions of the population, conducted by the Bureau.
The main objectives of the NLSS 2018-19 are
- to provide critical information for the production of a wide range of socio-economic and demographic indicators, including for benchmarking and monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- to monitor progress in the population’s welfare;
- to provide statistical evidence and measure the impact on households of a current and anticipated government policies.
According to the report, more than 42 percent of households in Nigeria resides in compound houses, 21.4 percent live in separate houses and 16.3 percent in apartments.
The survey indicates that both in rural and urban areas the major share of households resides in compound housing, 35.3 and 47.5 percent in urban and rural areas respectively.
Also, more than 54 percent of households own the dwelling in which they reside, while 25.8 percent rent the housing. The share of renters is 49.2 percent in urban areas, whereas in rural areas only 10.4 percent rent the dwelling.
The largest share of households who rent is in Lagos – 68.3 percent and lowest is in Zamfara and Jigawa- 1.4 percent.
About 60.7 percent of households reside in housing with cement or concrete walls, that share is higher in urban areas, 86.4 percent and 43.8 percent in rural areas.
However, 31.5 of households live in houses made of mud walls. In Zamfara state more than 81 percent dwell in houses with mud walls.
Roofing in 57.8 percent of households is made of corrugated iron sheets, followed by zinc sheet for 18.3 percent of households. Roofing made of thatch is observed in 13 percent of households among rural residents.
In 70.3 percent of household, the flooring material is made of cement or concrete.
However, mud and straw/sand flooring reported among 14.1 and 5.6 percent of
households respectively.
Two-room dwellings are occupied by 31.9 percent of households; in one-roomed housing reside close to 24.5 percent of households.
Nigeria Living Standard Survey (NLSS) is a nationwide intervention and a collaborative effort of multiple agencies. The intervention has been led by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with technical assistance from the World Bank.
