Planning institutions as gatekeepers in housing production in Lagos, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In every phase of housing production, there are certain “gatekeepers” that constrain access to housing resources. This article argues that the activities of physical planning institutions constrain access to residential building permits in Lagos, Nigeria. From May 2013 to May 2014, 7,281 residential structures were served with contravention notices while only 1,380 applications for residential building plans were approved in 2013. This figure is negligible in relation to the population of Lagos and its housing needs. There is therefore a need to review the criteria for granting residential building permits to encourage participation from the informal private sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance and public policy
• Environment (built and natural)
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Moruf Alabi is a member of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Abdulateef Iyanda Bako is a member of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.