SOLVING HOMELESSNESS WITH ARCHITECTURAL ORGANISATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING COMPLEXES IN NIGERIA

The importance of shelter to man cannot be overemphasised. According to the Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in 2018, Nigeria's housing deficit is estimated at between 17 to 20 million housing units, increasing annually by 900 000 companies, with a potential cost of N6 trillion (US$16 billion). This paper examined how a lack of affordable housing has contributed to homelessness in Nigeria and establishes using the architectural organisation of residential building complexes as one of the major solutions to the shortage. With the use of three (3) objectives, the study finds out the influence of affordable housing on homelessness, to investigate the level of homelessness accrued to lack of affordable housing in Nigeria and to determine the architectural strategies that can be used to ensure affordable housing in Nigeria. In order to streamline the study, a case study of Mowe, Simawa in Ogun State was chosen, and questionnaires were administered to investigate the research problem. The study shows that if housing is not within an affordable range, then the victory over homelessness is far from over. It concludes that affordable housing is entirely possible. Considering all necessary factors and homelessness will be a thing of the past in the nearest future with an architecturally organised residential building and proper management.