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ABSTRACT
This study seeks to identify the effect of building material cost on housing development in Oredo, Benin city. Data on the prices of some selected building materials were obtained through market survey between the year 2014 and 2023. The respondents were building material sellers and developers in which thirty-seven (37) respondents were selected randomly. And all the questionnaire were dully returned and were used for the analysis. The researcher adopted the use of simple mean and standard deviation to the extent to which the respondents responded. A mean value >3.0 was used as the decision rule to determine if the items are accepted or rejected, in measuring the respondent responds to the extent in which they strongly agreed to the question as a cause of increase in price of building materials. The analyses showed that inflation (x̄=3.84), increased in contractors’ fraudulent practices (x̄=3.62), shortage in the delivery of housing to the populace (x̄=3.95), increase in the cost of maintenance due to inferior materials used (x̄=3.97), were the key factors responsible for the incessant increase in prices. The study concluded that cost is an indispensable factor in the conception and execution of housing developmental initiatives. It impacts not only aesthetics, but as well the viability of housing projects. The study recommended that government should introduce subsidy programs targeted at reducing the cost burden on housing developers and policies should be enacted to regulate the prices of essential building materials as this could help stabilize costs and prevent arbitrary price hikes.
