Assessment of residential stisfaction with public housing in Hulhumale`, Maldives

Abstract

Provision of adequate and affordable housing for all citizens is a key pledge of the current government of the Maldives, and as a part of this pledge, the government has carried out public housing development in Hulhumale`. Given the complex nature of housing, it is important to assess the housing needs and preferences of the citizens in order to improve provision of adequate and affordable housing to all citizens. As such, residential satisfaction is an effective means of measuring the match between household needs and preferences against the current housing. This study assesses the residential satisfaction with public housing in Hulhumale`, on physical features of housing unit, services and public facilities provided, and the social environment within the housing area and their contribution to overall satisfaction with public housing. The study used data collected from 100 randomly selected households by using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive, as well as Spearman rank correlation and regression were used for analysis. The findings show that a majority of the residents are only slightly satisfied, though satisfaction levels were generally higher for services provided and public facilities, compared to the satisfaction with physical space within the housing unit and the social environment within the housing area. Low levels of residential satisfaction was recorded for the numbers of toilets, size and condition of washing and drying areas, cleaning services for corridors and staircases, street lighting, garbage collection, ferry services and level of security within the housing area. The study also found that satisfaction levels were lower among the owners compared to tenant occupiers. The study infers that merely providing access to housing does not indicate success of existing housing policies, but meeting the actual housing needs and preferences of the residents will determine whether the government can achieve the goal of providing adequate and affordable housing for all citizens.