CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Public residential property management is the operation, control and oversight of government-owned housing in the broadest sense. Management implies that a property must be cared for, monitored and accounted for throughout its useful life, which is much like the role of management in any business. The term also covers the equipment, tools and physical capital assets that are acquired and used to build, repair and maintain public residential property. It involves the processes, systems and manpower needed to manage the whole life cycle of the property, from acquisition through control, accountability, maintenance and utilisation to eventual disposal.

The basic duties of a residential property manager generally include screening and selecting tenants, preparing leases and collecting rent under legally approved documents, and dealing with maintenance problems within an agreed budget. Management also has many other facets: keeping the accounts and finances of the properties, and dealing with disputes involving tenants, contractors and insurers. Legal matters, such as non-payment of rent, evictions, nuisance and the withdrawal of agreed services, often attract the most attention, so managers need to keep up with the applicable housing laws and practices. In more advanced countries, computer-aided facility management (CAFM) increasingly supports property management.

In practice, maintenance is the part of management that most affects the physical condition and value of public housing. Maintenance is a continuing programme that keeps buildings and their elements at an acceptable standard so that they remain functional and reliable (Ibrahim et al., 2025). Governments at all levels in Nigeria have invested in building and maintaining public residential estates, yet the upkeep of that stock remains a recognised problem (Aluko et al., 2024). Research on social (public) housing in the Niger Delta found that poor post-construction management practice has left many estates unfinished, vandalised or abandoned, and it argues that sustainable management needs effective building maintenance, good estate management practice and the involvement of stakeholders (Ihuah et al., 2013).

Managers of public residential properties in Nigeria face challenges that range from uncooperative attitudes among occupants and staff to poor maintenance, a poor physical environment, insecurity and inadequate basic infrastructure. A study of staff quarters at a federal polytechnic in Kebbi State, for example, found that lack of funds, lack of preventive maintenance and the attitudes of both occupants and management were among the factors affecting maintenance, and that occupants themselves most often carried out repairs (Ibrahim et al., 2025). Some managers have coped with these challenges better than others. This study provides an overview of the challenges of managing public residential properties in Nigeria, with Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, as the case study, and of how such properties can be managed effectively.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

A public residential property is more than a shelter: it includes all the facilities within and around the building and a bundle of services that involve both a product and a process. Managing such a property therefore covers its maintenance and development in every respect, whether economic, social or physical. The management of public housing has attracted researchers’ attention because of how complicated the process is. Poor management of public housing is a worldwide problem, although its severity varies from one country to another. In Nigeria, studies point to inadequate funding, weak maintenance planning, and neglect by occupants and managers as persistent causes of deteriorating public residential stock (Ibrahim et al., 2025; Ihuah et al., 2013). Evidence on how these problems play out in specific urban settings such as Makurdi is comparatively limited in the literature reviewed. The study therefore examines the challenges of managing public residential properties in Nigeria, using Makurdi as the case study.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The study seeks to:

1. examine the challenges of managing public residential properties in Nigeria, with Makurdi as the case study;
2. analyse the effect of adequate management of public residential property on its value; and
3. identify solutions to the problems of public residential property management in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What are the challenges of managing public residential properties in Nigeria, and specifically in Makurdi?
2. What is the effect of adequate management of public residential property on its value?
3. What are the solutions to the problems of public residential property management in Nigeria?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study is significant in the following ways:

1. Its outcome will inform the public about the complexities of public residential property in Nigeria, stressing proper management and the main management challenges, and it will provide a guide for estate managers and government housing agencies in decision making.
2. It will serve as a resource for scholars and researchers who wish to carry out further work in the field, and if its findings are applied, it may offer new explanations of the subject.

1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study

1.6.1 Scope

The study covers the main problems faced by managers in maintaining effectively both the physical infrastructure of public residential properties and the finances generated from them. Makurdi is used as the case study.

1.6.2 Limitations

Financial constraint. Insufficient funds limit the researcher’s ability to source relevant materials, literature and information and to collect data through the internet, questionnaires and interviews.

Time constraint. The researcher is carrying out the study alongside other academic work, which reduces the time that can be devoted to it.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Management: The process of dealing with or controlling things or people.

Residential: Designed for people to live in.

Property: A thing or things belonging to someone; possessions collectively.

Public residential property: Housing owned by government or a government agency and allocated to occupants for residence.

Maintenance: The combined technical and administrative actions taken to keep a building or its elements in, or restore them to, a condition in which they can perform their required function (Ibrahim et al., 2025).

References

Aluko, O. O., Awe, F. C., & Bankole, I. E. (2024). Evaluation of government participation in maintenance of public residential housing in different climatic zones in Nigeria. International Journal of Architecture and Planning, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.51483/IJARP.4.1.2024.6-12

Ibrahim, I., Maimagani, S. S., Daud, D., Sa’ad, U. B., & Oluwale, A. O. (2025). Factors influencing maintenance of public residential properties: A case study of Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria. INTREST: International Journal of Real Estate Studies, 19(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.11113/intrest.v19n1.387

Ihuah, P. W., et al. (2013). Toward a framework for the sustainable management of social (public) housing estates in Nigeria. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 10(9), 901–913.