| Summary: | Adequate housing provision for the growing population in Lagos State, Nigeria is a major challenge. Addressing this challenge necessitated the involvement of both public and private sectors in the development of housing estates. However, regardless of the nature and ownership status of these housing estates, they need to be properly managed; hence the integration of facilities management (FM) into their management. The research objectives included a critical examination of FM strategies, policies and processes adopted in housing management through data collection and elucidation. In conducting this research, qualitative grounded theory (GT) and case study methodologies were adopted. This was done in order to understand, and thereby gain knowledge of the practice of FM in housing. Consequently, interview was conducted with 26 Facilities Managers and 971 residents in 20 different housing estates. The emergent facts from the analysed data revealed that the organisation structure of FM department and their roles depend on the nature of the housing estate concerned, and their purpose. Furthermore, FM is of immense benefit to the housing estates where it is practiced, as it had positively impacted on their general condition and goodwill. Some of the challenges besetting the practice of FM in housing cut across the strategic, tactical and operational aspects. The most pressing ones were financial constraints, residents‘ behaviour; and some of the Facilities Managers‘ lacked the requisite academic and professional qualifications. Some of the recommendations included the need to adequately train and properly empower the Facilities Managers and their teams to ensure FM effectiveness; the adoption of residents-led FM approach; and the need for comprehensive improvement on the existing housing environment especially in housing estates with aging infrastructures.
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