Housing has been the basic need of mankind providing not
only shelter but also private and dynamic setting for much
social activities and interactions. The problem of housing
has become an everyday discussion in all quarters of the
public and private sectors of the African countries. It has
became glaringly clear that most of the urban population
lives in dehumanizing housing environment while those
that have access to average housing do so at a very high
cost. The expensive nature of housing compels low income
and middle income earners to resort to live in dilapidated
housing and structures that are often congested and unfit
for normal liveability. Provision of housing requires huge
capital outlay and the financial requirement on the part of
the developers both in the private and public sectors for the
provision of housing is to say the least enormous. The major
problem confronting planners and urban managers is the
emergence of slums and shanty towns which are solely
fuelled by the inability of the majority of the populace to
afford decent and qualitative housing. This paper examines
the causal factors responsible for difficult access to decent
and affordable housing in Kano State. Data for the study
was collected via administration of questionnaires to
residents of three areas mostly affected by poor planning
namely, Kurna, Dorayi and Brigade. A total of 126
respondents were selected via systematic sampling
technique. The major finding of the study reveals that high
cost and difficult access to land, incessant raise in cost of
building materials, difficult access to finance and poverty
are the major factors that made housing unaffordable to
majority of the populace. The study concludes by
recommending ways to ensure the provision of affordable
housing both by the public and private body so as to serve as
an avenue for the creation of sustainable cities in Nigeria.