EFFECTS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTRIBUTES ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES IN KAFANCHAN, KADUNA STATE

EFFECTS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTRIBUTES ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES IN KAFANCHAN, KADUNA STATE

ABSTRACT

The aim of this project is to examine the effects of Neighbourhood Attributes on Residential Properties Values in Kafanchan. The specific objectives are as followings: identify the various environmental problems common in residential neighbourhood in Kafanchan, evaluate the relationship between neighbourhood attributes and residential property values and ascertain residents rating of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes in Kafanchan, examine the effects of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes on residential property values. The research method used was survey The sampling techniques adopted for this study is the random sampling techniques, the techniques give every member of the population the opportunity to be selected without any form of preferential treatment. A total of one hundred (100) copies of questionnaires were administered, and out of these, seventy five (75) copies of the questionnaires were correctly filled and returned.  The researcher make use of statistical tools such as tables, percentage and descriptive methods to presents  and analyzed the data gathered from the field survey which was considered appropriate for the research. The study revealed that the problems common in residential neighbourhood in Kafanchan is inadequate basic services such portable water, constant electricity supply, good and affordable health care etc, substandard housing this is evident in the presence of squatter and slum settlement, irregular and informal settlement, finally poverty and social exclusion contributes tremendously to the environmental problems. Finally, the study revealed that environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes affects residential property value in Kafanchan. The researcher recommend that the government should make concerted effort in providing the basic social amenities in Kafanchan to reduce the environmental problems encountered and the development control should ensure that development control laws are fully enforced to avert the problem squatter, slum, irregular and informal settlement.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Environmental qualities are largely responsible for neighbourhood attributes on real estate values. Man’s attitude towards the surrounding environment is not neutral because human search for location that deliver a high quality of life (Mchi, 2013). Those expectations particularly concern man’s daily surrounding including residential area or recreation ground. The qualities of that environment largely affect the decision made on real estate market value.

Environmental qualities are numerous and its’ effect are in various ways, such as physical and socio-economic obsolescence and environmental problem and a host of others have their consequence on human. The problem of environmental and efforts directly towards their alleviation command global attention because of the increasing proportion of the world population being affected by such issues whether or not; we have face an environmental crisis “It is the subject of much debate those days some argue that our environmental problem are neither unprecedented nor over-whelming. The role of environment in assimilating waste products and providing life-support amenities will become increasingly important. Protection and conservation of key natural systems and important ecological functions will essentially, not only in terms of their value and in terms of recreation but also because these systems and functions may provide invaluable support and protection for economic activity and human welfare. But little is known about the role of environment in recent years there is growing recognition that efficient and sustainable management of environmental resources is indeed critical to economic development (VanKamp, 2003).

Neighbourhood, on the other hand is important due to its spatial linkage to the housing purchase and real estate in general. Once settled in a location, one is subject to the externalities that neighbourhood effects impose. Neighbourhoods are geographic units within which certain social relationships exist, although the intensity of these relationships and their importance in the lives of residents vary tremendously. Initially the neighbourhood unit was both a social and planning concept. On one hand, it had to provide convenience and comfort and direct, face-to-face contact in order to restore some sense of community that has been disturbed or destroyed by the specialization and segmentation of urban life. On the other hand, it was to constitute a special sub-part of a larger, more complex totality.

Environmental qualities matter to human life as they play role in assimilating waste products and providing life support amenities such as forests provide fresh air, water catchments Areas and prevention of soil erosion (Turner 1995). Despite the essential role played by environment resources in developing countries little is known about the economic development (Turner, 1995). Furthermore little is known about the impacts of markets forces and policy interventions on environmental management and environmental effects of development and programmes. Research in all these areas is proceeding, but progress remains slow given the complexity of the problems and our failure to address them adequately in the past (Turner, 1995). Development of industries and increased human population has greatly led to environment deterioration, which in turn affects the quality and property value of settlements (Turner, 1995). The Nigeria population is growing at the rate of approximately eight percent per annum, it is estimated that about 70 percent of populations live in poor, unplanned settlements (http:web.mit.edu/ urbanupgrading) Until mid- 1990 the overall urban environment had deteriorated to the extent that less than 5 percent of solid and liquid waste was collected (Nkya 2001) Lack of knowledge of the people towards the importance of environmental quality, has lead to deterioration of the environment to such an extent that in some it has decreased property values and rents of houses. 

According to Norman (1982), physical attributes and locational influences can be described as “Fundamental factors” of the property because all users of such property get utility or disutility from these fundamental factors over their expected tenure. While physical attributes include building area, type of structure and all that is attached thereof, locational influences are off-site neighbourhood attributes like healthcare facilities, parks, schools etc. Therefore real estate value will be locational dependent due to the attributes with respect to specific desirable services. Since locational influences on the value of residential property can come up from a number of sources such as accessibility to shopping centre, air quality, drainage system availability, pollution, noise, security, and availability of refuse disposal facilities etc. This research work examined the effect of environmental quality and neighbourhood attributes on real estate value.

1.2.      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Most Nigeria‘s major cities have been experiencing rapid urbanization and rapid development due to urban-urban or rural urban migration which have resulted in the failure of urban infrastructure and services have failed to keep pace with this growth. In addition to rising urban poverty, there is an increased urban environmental problems. These challenges are poor solid waste management, uncontrolled housing and neighbourhood development, flooding, traffic congestion, poor state of the urban physical environment and rising crime rates have been documented (Ugwuorah, 2002; Mchi, 1997). Obinna, Owei and Mark (2010) have also noted the deplorable housing, inadequate space, and absence of basic services in the informal settlements of the city. This state of affairs triggered the desire to examine the effect of environmental quality and residential property value in Kafanchan, Kaduna State.

1.3       AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this project is to examine the effects of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes on residential properties values in Kafanchan.

The specific objectives are as followings:

1. To identify the various environmental problems common in residential neighbourhood in Kafanchan
2. To evaluate the relationship between neighbourhood attributes and residential property values.
3. To ascertain residents rating of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes in Kafanchan
4. To examine the effects of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes on residential property values in the study area

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the various environmental problems common in residential neighbourhood in Kafanchan?
2. What are the relationship between neighbourhood attributes and residential property value?
3. How do the residents rate environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes in Kafanchan?
4. What are the effects of environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes on residential property values in the study area?

1.5       HYPOTHESIS

H0: Environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes have no significant effect on residential property value in Kafanchan

H1: Environmental qualities and neighbourhood attributes have significant effect on residential property value in Kafanchan

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study examines the effect of environmental quality and neighourhood attributes on residential property values. The management of the environments and neighbourhood is the collective responsibilities of both the government at all levels and the property owners, thus this study would be utilized by the government at both federal, state and local government through their various ministries or agencies such as the ministry of environment, education, health and information as it will impact on them the relevance of maintaining a good and quality environments. The study will be also be beneficial to these ministries in the area of policy formulation and formulating laws that will promote good environment and neighbourhood which will be beneficial to human health and protect  the environment.

The citizenry, estate valuers and managers and professionals in real estate sector will also benefit greatly from this study, as the study will reveal how a person’s carefree attitude about the environment can be costly not only to himself but to others. Non-governmental organization in the areas of health and environment will also benefit from the result of this study. This study will guide them in the areas production and distribution of educational materials to the public to enlighten them about the effects of environmental quality and neighbourhood attributes with regards to its impact on property rental value.

The information will go along way in helping other research in the field as it will contribute to available literatures on environmental quality and neighbourhood attributes.

1.7       SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study is delimited to the examination of the effects of environmental quality and neighbourhood attributes on property rental value. The study intends to investigate the environmental quality and neighbourhood attributes, and the relationship between neighbourhood quality and residential property values. The geographical scope of the study is Kafanchan, Kaduna state.

1.8       OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Environment: The sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces and other living things, which provide conditions for development and growth as well as of danger and damage.

Environmental Quality: Environmental quality is a set of properties and characteristics of the environment, either generalized or local, as they impinge on human beings and other organisms. It is a measure of the condition of an environment relative to the requirements of one or more species, any human need or purpose.

Neighbourhood: A neighbourhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members.

Attributes: A characteristic or feature of a product that is thought to appeal to customers.

Property Value: property value according to Millington (2017) is the money obtainable from a person willing and able to purchase property when it is offered for sale by a willing seller, allowing for reasonable time for negotiation and with the full knowledge of the nature and uses which  the property is capable of being put.

1.9       THE STUDY AREA

Kafanchan is a mainly Christian-dominated town in the southern part of Kaduna State, Middle Belt, Nigeria. It is the location of a junction station of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, and it sits on the line connecting Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kafanchan, Kuru, Bauchi, and finally Maiduguri.^[2] As of 2007, Kafanchan had an estimated population of 83,092.

The word Kafanchan, according to Ibrahim James, is said to have been derived from the Fantswam (a dialect of Tyap) phrase “kwaFantswam“. The Fantswam indigenous inhabitants of the Kafanchan town and environs added the prefix “kwa” to all names of peoples and places. Hausa immigrant elements who interacted with them found it more convenient to pronounce the two words, “kwa-Fantswam” as Kafanchan. The town developed as a result of British colonial commercial activities, i.e. a railway junction town in the early 20th century. However, there is another claim as to how the name Kafanchan came into existence. It was said that the name originated during the railway construction period in the 1920s, when the railtrack crossbars were being laid, the white man would say in Hausa “kafanchan“, meaning leg there, i.e. ‘put your leg there’, then a crossbar would be laid after the labourer widens his leg, pushing a leg forward. Hence, the name Kafanchan.

Kafanchan was originally inhabited by the Fantswam people, who migrated from Mashan and located on present-day Atyap land, when they saw an elephant around the Ni̱mbyia̱ (Nimby) forest and shot it with a spear, causing it to flee into the forest. Being hunters, they pursued it until they met where it fell within the plains. They finally settled there and became the aboriginal inhabitants of the present day Kafanchan plains. The southern Kaduna indigenous people of the area, under the auspices of the Indigenous People of Jama’a (ICJ) responded to the turbaning by filing a suit against the Kaduna state government at the Kafanchan High Court. The Kaduna clamoured for the scrapping of the emirate system on their soil, as it was an alien institution imposed on them by the British colonialists. A result could not be ascertained until the new democratic regime came into being. However, in the year 2001, the then-governor of Kaduna state, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, created the Fantswam and Ninkyob-Nindem’chiefdoms amidst over ten others in the southern Kaduna area, thereby partially ending the 20th century imposition of the Fantswam people and her kins under emirate rule. However, the Jema’a emirate still remains an institution of the Hausa-Fulani inhabitants. Today, Kafanchan is a melting pot of many Nigerians from parts of southern Kaduna such as the Gwong and the Ham, and other parts of Nigeria.