Impacts of Households’ Prior Experience on Current Housing Satisfaction: A Study of Selected Estates in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Researchers in housing satisfaction mostly limit selection of research variables to current on-site parameters of the housing environment. Thus, variables perceived as not having explicit relationships with overall housing satisfaction are often relegated. However, users’ current satisfaction ratings are usually influenced by such relegated background variables, including user’s prior-experience in erstwhile housing environments. This paper explores the prospects of users’ housing background experience in influencing the build-up to determining current levels of satisfaction. The survey utilised structured selfadministered questionnaires on a sample of 572 households in selected estates in the study area. The retrieved 283 were edited and analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Housing relative satisfaction indices were calculated for the respective estates first from mathematical formula and then compared with mean scores. A hypothesis was tested with Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation to establish a significant relationship between Satisfaction with Prior Housing Environment (SATPRIORHSE) and current Overall Housing Relative Satisfaction (OVERALLHRSAT). A further test with one-way ANOVA confirmed the outcome of the earlier test. The study revealed positive correlation of though, low coefficient of +0.281, between SATPRIORHSE and OVEARALLHRSAT. This was significant at the 0.01 (2-tailed) level. This analysis showed a significant relationship between the respondents’ prior housing and the recorded level of housing satisfaction in the current estates. The respondents who experienced various levels of low-satisfaction with their former housing recorded higher rates of satisfaction with current housing in the estates, than those who had better prior experiences. The research underscores the relevance of ‘prior experience’ variable in assessment of current housing satisfaction levels. When rigorous financial analysis is involved, an underplay of such variable could lead to wrong conclusions, with misapplication of research outcomes accompanied by serious financial implications. The user’s prior-experience determines the housing norms on which satisfaction is premised.