Women and housing in Nairobi city: an investigation of constraints and opportunities in access to house ownership
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Date
2004-08
Authors
OKaka, Okoth Fredrick
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
This study investigated women and housing in the city of Nairobi. It especially targeted the
constraints that impede women from accessing own house and opportunities that enhance access
to house ownership. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to:
'" Identify the modalities of acquiring own house by women in the city of Nairobi
'" Investigate constraints inhibiting women's access to house ownership in the city of Nairobi.
'" Investigate opportunities that can enhance women's access to house ownership in the city of
Nairobi.
To realize the purpose of the study, a survey design was adopted. Primary data was collected by
use of questionnaires and interview schedules. The questionnaires contained both open ended
and structured questions, which targeted women who were either tenants (45) or owner occupiers
(45). Informal discussions were held where necessary to seek clarification and
additional information from the respondents. The interview schedules were administered to the
mortgage officers from the housing finance institutions. The Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) was used for data processing and analysis. The first stage of processing and
analysis involved computation of frequencies, percentages and generation of tables and graphs.
The second stage involved testing of hypotheses by use of chi-square and factor analysis to test
for independence between observation made and patterns of association, respectively.
The study revealed that there were three ways used by women in the city of Nairobi to acquire
owner-occupied house. These included: loan or savings from co-operative society o! self-help
groups; loan fro.n mortgage lending institutions or bank or employer; and inheritance. The most
commonly used modality being through loan or savings from co-operative society or self-help
group (68.8%). Statistical test using the chi-square technique revealed that the differences
observed pertaining to modalities of acquiring own housing by women in the city of Nairobi
were statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance.
The study further showed that women in the city of Nairobi face a number of constraints in
accessing house ownership. These constraints included: low income, lack of information on
housing opportunities, bureaucratic housing loan procedures, high cost of houses, and lack of
equal inheritance rights among others. By employing factor analysis, it was observed that there is
a pattern of association in the rating of constraints that hinder women's access to house
ownership. Four main factors (constraints), namely: institutional; financial; educational and
occupational; and cultural were derived from the original 15 constraint variables.
The study also revealed that there were various opportunities that could be explored by women
in the city of Nairobi to enhance their access to house ownership. These were: initiating income
generating activities through self help groups; joining co-operative societies that offer flexible
credit facilities; seeking information on acquisition of shelter; and seeking for education, training
and employment opportunities to boost access to house ownership.
In conclusion, it was evident that women's accessibility to owner-occupied house in the city of
Nairobi is severely constrained. However, opportunities exist that could be explored by women
to access house ownership. The study recommends that the government, NGOs, and other
stakeholders in the housing sector should support and initiate programes and activities aimed at
increasing women's access to house ownership, especially in an urban setting such as Nairobi
where majority of women live in insecure housing tenancy.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Masters of Arts
(Geography) of Kenyatta University August , 2004