BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Housing is one of the three (3) fundamental needs of man. It is the most important for the survival of man after food. A deficiency in housing can profoundly affect the health, welfare and productivity of man (Joseph, 2017). Aderamo (2014) opined that housing has to be quantitatively and qualitatively adequate to fulfill its basic purpose which is comfort. The need for residential accommodation in Enugu dates back to the origin of the town. According to Obaseki (2021) Residential settlement started from the discovery of coal in Enugu Ngwo then a village on Udi hill which accommodated visitors on the foot of the hills during the commencement of tapping of coal resources.

In 1915, the first coal mine was opened at Udi and in 1917 the second coal mine was opened in Iva Valley, in the same year Enugu attained a second-class township status under Lord Lugard’s Township Ordinance with the name “Enugu Ngwo”. In 1923, Ngwo was dropped from the name to distinguish the township from the Ngwo Village. Meanwhile, construction work started in 1914 in the Enugu Port Harcourt rail line with the discovery of deep-sea harbor in Port Harcourt. It was not until 1916 that the first freight of coal was transported by the rail to Port Harcourt. As the coal mine attracted more workers another settlement was established for indigenous workers at coal camp otherwise known as Ogbete (Ani & Odife, 2020).

Between 1916 and 1920 the city developed as a result of by-product of coal mining activities, hence the appellation Coal City which has been retained till today (Enugu state.gov.ng, 2021).

By 1923 China town was developed as a special residential area for railway workers and European quarters today called GRA was carved out for the whites. Later other residential areas such as Asata, Ogui new layout, Uwani, Achara Layout, Abakpa, Emene, Trans Ekulu, Independence Layout, Idaw River, New Haven, among others was developed as more people migrated into Enugu in search of greener pastures (Odemene, 2018).

The framing of New Haven led to the subsequent growth and expansion of the layout. Since the creation of Enugu State in 1991 New Haven has experienced a rising population, though mapped out in the 1960s as mainly residential layout, it however has developed into a major residential layout with very good road network, ample supply of electricity and pipe borne water (Eze, 2013). It is against this background that the study is delving into an assessment of user-demand preference for residential properties in New Haven Layout, Enugu.