HOUSING QUALITY AS A DETERMINANT OF RESIDENTIAL RENTAL VALUE IN BENIN CITY

ABSTRACT

This study examines housing quality as a determinant of residential rental value in Benin City,Edo state. The study was carried out using both primary and secondary data. In all 308 questionnaires were administered in 20 zones of the three residential areasmapped out in the study area and respondents were randomly selected along major streets. But only 280 questionnaires were returned valid for analysis. Using the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS),various statistical techniques and presentations were employed in analyzing the data. The hedonic regression model was used to test the first hypothesis of the study. The result showed that there was a significant relationship between housing quality and residential rental value in the study area with 50% of type of floor finish having the highest beta coefficient at -.215. The second hypothesis was tested with analysis of variance(ANOVA) technique and the result showed a P-Value of .000which indicated a significant difference in the yearly rent of the zones mapped out in the study area. The third hypothesis was tested with the use of the spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient and the result showed that the r _s (coefficient) is 0.75 this shows thathousingrent increases as distance increases from the CBD. The study therefore, is of the view that housing quality determines residential rental value in the study areaand poor quality housing can be improved upon through policy implementation by the federal, state and local governments.