Housing inadequacy in Nigeria’s rapidly growing urban centres is manifested in qualitative
and quantitative terms. Government’s efforts at mass delivery of houses have failed to
achieve the desired result, hence the collaboration between the public and private sector to
bridge the wide housing gap. A study into the public–private partnered initiatives at mass
delivery of housing in Akure, Nigeria was undertaken. Seven housing schemes of this sort
were identified and studied, taking their contributions to bridging the housing gap in the city
into account. The achievement is meagre though progressive strides are discernable. The
macroeconomic environment, continued dominance of the public sector, bureaucratic
bottlenecks, and socio-cultural issues presented serious challenges to active private-sector
participation. Affordability is elusive; execution of the projects had some problems while
political manoeuvrings impacted on the projects negatively. It is affirmed that participation of
the private sector has potential for improving housing delivery; however, the present
operation needs to be fine-tuned for future success.