Impact of Floods on Property Rental Values in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Property rental values are key indicators of investment performance and serve as a veritable source of income for property owners and accommodation for occupants. However, these property values are not static; they are sensitive to both economic and environmental conditions. Among the environmental factors, flooding has emerged as a major threat to the stability of property rental values, particularly in low-lying coastal regions such as Asaba, Delta State. Flooding has not only disrupted livelihoods and displaced residents but has also caused significant damage to property. The resultant effect is a decline in the desirability and marketability of affected properties. This study is aimed at analysing the impact of flooding on rental values of residential properties in flood-prone and non – prone areas of Asaba, Delta State. The study applied the distribution of questionnaire and survey design method for data col-lection as survey design enables the collection of numerical (quantitative) and descriptive (qualitative) data insights, while Persian parametric correlation, non-parametric correlation and weighted mean were used for data analysis. The study adopted Taro Yamani's formula for sample size technique with a population size of 490 comprising 398 Landlords, 72 Estate Surveyors and Valuers, and 20 Staff of Delta State Emergency Management Agency, Asaba. Results of analysis from Persian parametric cor-relation showed that flooding has high significant impact on rental values in Asaba with high significant value of 0.000 and high correlation coefficient of 98.9% while non parametric result shows that flooding has high significant impact on rental values in Asaba with high significant value of 0.000 and high correlation coefficient of 88.5%, while Spearman’s rho correlation, showed that flooding in the city of Asaba has high significant value of 0.000 and high correlations coefficient of 96.4%. The results gen-erally suggest that the city needs to seriously address the issue of flood risk in their areas, as the study shows that flooding is a very significant factor in the city of Asaba and hinders appreciable land devel-opment. The study recommends, among other things, that the government and key stakeholders should be engaged in floodplain management. In finding a solution to flooding using this approach, the first step is to construct a flood-frequency curve based on historical records, and an examination of the vegetation to determine how often, on average, floods of a certain degree occur in a particular area. This does not tell us exactly when a flood will occur, but it provides an idea of how often it might occur based on history.