AN APPRAISAL OF THE IMPACT OF OFF-CAMPUS STUDENTS ACCOMMODATION ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Housing refers to the residential buildings in which people live and grow, and it answers a basic human need for a safe and comfortable living environment. Student housing, commonly called hostels, is one form of it. It is an essential part of universities everywhere and reflects the idea that living and learning go together. The quality of student housing also shapes how satisfied students are with their living conditions (Amole, 2009).

In Nigeria, student housing was once almost entirely on campus. Over time, however, rapid growth in student numbers and a shift in universities' accommodation policies led to the spontaneous growth of private, commercial off-campus student housing in university towns across the country. Rising enrolment and inadequate on-campus hostels have driven this growth in off-campus private housing (Adebowale & Simpeh, 2023).

Conditions were once much better. Until the 1980s, a large share of students lived in university hostels, and students in the older universities were generally comfortable, with regular meals and reliable water and light. Today the picture is very different. Where hostels exist, they are overcrowded, which pushes many students off campus. Some institutions, such as Lagos State University (LASU), were established as non-residential from the start. Poor funding of public tertiary institutions and weak planning for student accommodation have worsened the problem. Newly admitted students often arrive from distant places to find no accommodation, and on-campus rooms, where they exist, are often costly and poorly maintained.

Hostel shortages in turn create heavy demand for off-campus housing, which brings its own problems. These include high rents, transport costs, traffic delays and long, risky journeys to lectures. Such conditions can lead to frustration, poor academic performance and social vices. They also leave students exposed to security risks when they live in communities far from the campus. Some university managers encourage off-campus housing without first trying to provide hostels, and many newer and state universities have no plan to build hostels at all, preferring to encourage private provision.

For property owners, however, student demand has an important market effect. Private hostels near a university are an attractive investment because of the steady demand, and student housing has been described as a resilient rental market (Zubairu et al., 2018). Rents in these areas depend on the property's features and on its neighbourhood. In studies around the Federal University of Technology, Akure, rental values were found to be a function of neighbourhood amenities and property characteristics (Bello & Ezeokoli, 2020). Distance from the university was found to have an inverse relationship with rent, while better property attributes such as good kitchens, bathrooms and finishes had a positive effect (Binuyo & Bello, 2024). Location and neighbourhood attributes also affect housing values in Lagos (Aluko, 2011), and the availability of infrastructural facilities influences rental values (Okorie, 2015). These findings fit the hedonic pricing view that a property's price reflects the value of its individual attributes (Rosen, 1974).

Off-campus student housing also changes the neighbourhoods around universities, a process known as studentification. In Nigeria, researchers have found both positive effects, such as increased business patronage and liveliness, and negative ones, including theft and anti-social behaviour (Adebowale & Simpeh, 2023). The need to appraise how off-campus student accommodation affects residential property values is the motivation for this study.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

Student accommodation in Nigerian tertiary institutions is in a poor state. Institutions around the world use different housing models. In the non-residential model, students find their own accommodation. In the residential model, the university houses all its students. In the dual model, the university houses students for part of their stay, for example the first and final years, and students find their own housing in the remaining years. Institutions need adequate housing so that students can live without physical, psychological or environmental harm.

LASU was established under a policy that made no provision for student accommodation. Students therefore depend on housing in nearby communities, which places pressure on those areas. Because universities attract population and activity, the neighbourhoods around them come under pressure from the large numbers of students living there. Problems such as the growth of slums, difficulty in providing infrastructure and uncontrolled development are commonly associated with such areas, in addition to student-related security concerns. Even institutions that provide hostels still face problems caused by students living off campus, so the situation is likely to be worse where no housing is provided.

Despite the importance of the subject, few studies have examined how off-campus student housing affects residential property values around Nigerian universities, particularly in Lagos. This study addresses that gap.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to appraise the impact of off-campus students' accommodation on residential property values. The specific objectives are to:

1. Describe the nature and extent of off-campus student accommodation around the university.
2. Assess the effect of student demand on rental and property values in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
3. Identify the property and neighbourhood factors that influence rental values in these areas.
4. Examine students' satisfaction with their off-campus accommodation in relation to the rents they pay.
5. Identify the other effects of off-campus student housing on the host communities.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Few studies have examined the effect of off-campus student accommodation on residential property values, and this study aims to fill that gap. Its findings should help property owners, investors, valuers, university managers, planners and policymakers understand how student demand affects property markets and neighbourhoods.

REFERENCES

Adebowale, O. J., & Simpeh, F. (2023). Exploring the effects of studentification on neighbourhoods in Nigeria. Journal of Facilities Management, 21(1), 30–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-05-2021-0050

Aluko, O. (2011). The effects of location and neighbourhood attributes on housing values in metropolitan Lagos. Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management, 4(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.4314/ejesm.v4i2.8

Amole, D. (2009). Residential satisfaction in students' housing. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(1), 76–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.05.006

Bello, V. A., & Ezeokoli, N. B. (2020). Rental values and students' satisfaction in private hostels proximate to the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Journal of African Real Estate Research, 5(2), 41–58. https://doi.org/10.15641/jarer.v5i2.839

Binuyo, O., & Bello, V. A. (2024). Spatial association in students' residential apartment property characteristics around a university. Advanced GIS, 4(2), 82–99.

Okorie, A. (2015). Housing infrastructural facilities as determinants of rental values of residential properties in Osogbo, Osun State Nigeria. Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management, 1(1), 7–14.

Rosen, S. (1974). Hedonic prices and implicit markets: Product differentiation in pure competition. Journal of Political Economy, 82(1), 34–55. https://doi.org/10.1086/260169

Zubairu, G. A., Sulaiman, N., & Mohammed, M. I. (2018). Student housing a resilient housing rental market: Case of Federal Polytechnic neighbourhood Bauchi, Nigeria. Traektoriâ Nauki = Path of Science, 4(3), 4008–4017.