ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF BUILDING MATERIALS COST ON HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN OWERRI, IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The effects of increasing cost of building materials have made efforts of Imo State Government towards having enough and adequate housing for all citizens an uphill task. The study is aimed at assessing the effects of building materials cost on housing development with a view to establishing a way of predicting the rate of housing development in Owerri, Imo State Nigeria. A sample size of 90 was drawn from the population of 420 building construction professionals in the study area. Primary data was collected from construction professionals using structured questionnaire. Yearly number of residential development from 2009 to 2018 was collected from Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) and market prices of four selected building materials were also collected from 2009 to 2018. The questionnaire responses were analyzed and ranked using Relative Importance Index (RII). Multi Regression analysis was used to analyse the relationship between residential development and prices of the selected building materials. The hypothesis postulated was tested using T –Test. The findings revealed inflation as the most influential factor responsible for increase in the cost of building materials. Secondly, a very strong relationship exists between building materials prices and rate of residential development. However, the general effect of the prices of selected materials on residential development between 2009 and 2018 in Owerri Imo State was found significant. The study recommended that factors responsible for increase in the cost of building materials should be effectively considered by professionals during building production processes to ensure affordable housing developments are delivered. Keywords: Building, Materials, Prices, construction, professionals, Owerri, Development.