A Comparative Analysis of the housing Conditions of owner-occupied and Kebele- administered dwelling units in Bahir Dar
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Date
2003-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The two major types of housing tenures that exist in Ethiopia are owner-occupied and
rental occupations. Within the rental occupation, Kebele rented housing units have
been created since the coming of the Derg to power and the issuance of proclamation
No. 47/1975 which brought about government ownership of urban land and extra
houses. Since then, all government owned houses in the country, which have less
than 100 Birr rent per month, are administered by Kebeles. However, due to old age
and lack of maintenance, these Kebele rented dwelling units are deteriorating from
time-to-time. Hence, the main objectives of this study are, to compare and contrast
the existing conditions of owner-occupied and Kebele administered dwelling units in
Bahir Dar, the capital city of the Amhara National Regional state and to recommend
some possible measures that would help in the formulation of the national housing
policies and strategies.
In order to obtain the primary data necessary for the study, stratified and systematic
random sampling techniques were used to carry out the questionnaire survey in the
town. A total of 689 heads of the households were selected for the sample survey.
The methods used to process and interpret the data obtained were percentages, cross
tabulations, and mean values.
The major findings of the study show that, the housing situation of the town is
generally characterized by acute shortage which is manifested by a wide gap between
housing supply and need; lower effective demand; sub-standard housing conditions;
old age and lack of maintenance, especially most Kebele rented dwelling units; and
lower rent price of Kebele rented housing units.
The distribution of the population of Bahir Dar is such that maximum population
concentration is found in the central part of the town, that is, in Kebele 06 containing
732 persons per hectare and the lowest population density is found in the intermediate
and peripheral Kebeles, such as Kebeles, 03, 11, 13 and 16. In addition to population,
the spatial distribution of dwelling units by type of housing tenure shows that, most
Kebele rented dwelling units (71 percent) are found in the central part, whereas,nearly 80 percent of owner occupied housing units are found in the peripheral parts of
the town.
Even though most dwelling units in both owner occupied and Kebele administered
rental accommodations are found in sub-standard conditions, the study has indicated
that owner-occupied dwelling units are much better in terms of the major housing
quality indicators, as compared to Kebele rented housing units in the town. In other
words, Kebele administered dwelling units are more deteriorated than owner occupied
housing units.
Finally, the study has identified that, the major factors which influence the current
housing conditions of owner occupied and Kebele rented dwelling units are: old age
and lack of proper maintenance, particularly those of Kebele rented housing units;
lower occupational and income status of most of the Kebele tenants; the impact of
government housing policies; local physical, and political conditions of the town as
well as migration. Therefore, to solve the existing housing problems, the government
should formulate a comprehensive housing policy that would give due attention to
rental units particularly to the Kebele administered rental dwelling units, which do not
have any responsible body who look after them
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Geography and Environmental Studies