Gender, ethnicity and residential discrimination: interpreting implicit discriminations in Lagos rental housing market

Housing discrimination is an element of urban housing markets responsible for social sorting, exclusion, segregation and marginality. However, existing studies have majorly explained housing discrimination in multi-racial societies of the Global North with less attention to discrimination within housing markets in the global south cities like Lagos megacity Nigeria. This study therefore examined discriminations in Lagos rental housing market using data from a survey of urban renters. Results showed that discrimination existed in Lagos rental housing market and majority of the victims were female headed households. After controlling for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, religion and job status, the study found that personal attributes of prospective renters significantly influenced housing discrimination in the study area. However, while there was significant evidence of discrimination on account of gender, there was no significant evidence of discrimination on account of ethnicity in the Lagos housing market. These findings have strong policy implications for all inclusive housing market and social equity in African cities. It is therefore suggested that urban stakeholders should embark on social policy that could mitigate social inequity and gender inequality in the Nigerian housing markets.