Daramola Thompson Olapade

The demand for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) has attracted significant attention over the last decade, particularly in developing countries, due to the inability of higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide adequate hostels for their growing student population. This paper examines the investment performance of this real estate asset class in the context of holding period returns (HPRs) and return dispersion across three PBSA market segments over 2014–2023. This study adopted a quantitative research methodology using a descriptive case study strategy. This approach incorporated personal observation and baseline data collection from individual PBSA properties. Data on annual rent and outgoings were collected from 73 PBSA properties, totalling 3058 rooms and 5889 bed spaces within the studentified neighbourhood of Calabar. The study assessed investment performance using mean annual HPRs, and examined return dispersion using within-year property standard deviation (SD), individual property temporal SD, and category-portfolio temporal SD. Mean annual HPRs were broadly comparable across the three PBSA segments, ranging from 9.46% for middle-end PBSA to 9.98% for low-end PBSA and 9.97% for high-tech/premium PBSA. However, the segments differed more clearly in return dispersion. The mean within-year property SD was 6.27% for high-tech/premium, 6.34% for middle-end, and 8.23% for low-end PBSA. Individual property and category-level temporal variation also differed across the segments, indicating that similar average returns can coexist with different patterns of return variability across properties and over time. PBSA investment appraisers should consider return dispersion alongside average HPR. The findings provide investors, financiers, and valuers with segment-specific evidence to compare PBSA opportunities and assess property-level variability. While earlier studies have largely relied on aggregated property data to assess investment performance, this study extends PBSA investment research through longitudinal, property-level evidence from an emerging market. It distinguishes return dispersion across PBSA properties and over time, providing a basis for understanding PBSA investment performance in the emerging PBSA property market.

Despite employing only 7% of the workforce, construction accounts for approximately 20% of workplace fatalities globally, underscoring the critical importance of safety. While integrating health and safety (H&S) into procurement processes is essential for improving outcomes, regulatory frameworks in developing economies remain underexplored. This study employs a comparative leximetric analysis to examine the extent to which H&S requirements are embedded within construction legislation in Nigeria and South Africa. Using a qualitative leximetric approach, which employed a four-dimensional framework comprising legal scope and coverage, H&S requirements, procurement integration, and enforcement mechanisms, legal provisions were systematically coded using standardised criteria. The findings reveal substantial differences in formal regulatory design. South Africa demonstrates a more coherent and integrated legal framework, whereas Nigeria exhibits a fragmented structure with limited integration of H&S into procurement processes. These results highlight critical regulatory gaps, particularly in procurement-stage requirements and enforcement provisions. This has implications for practice and policy by demonstrating that integrating H&S requirements into procurement processes can strengthen regulatory coherence, improve accountability among project stakeholders, and support more effective safety governance in the construction industry. This study provides the first systematic leximetric analysis of H&S integration in construction procurement legislation within an African context.

The construction industries in South Africa and Nigeria face severe disruptions from non-state actors such as the South African construction mafias and Nigeria’s Omo Onile. These groups impede project progress and impose heavy economic costs through extortion and violence. This exploratory comparative study investigates their characteristics, operational methods, and impacts on construction projects and the wider industry. A qualitative research design was adopted, drawing on both primary and secondary data. In Lagos State, Nigeria, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 landowners and 19 government officials, using purposive and snowball sampling. Due to safety and access limitations, South African data were obtained through a systematic review and thematic analysis of 25 documents and 3 multimedia sources. Data were analysed thematically, using manual coding and ATLAS.ti software. Findings show that both groups derive social and political legitimacy and employ self-help tactics to extort and disrupt construction activities. Key traits include localised operations, political support networks, and claims of legitimate representation. Their actions cause injuries, fatalities, property damage, investor withdrawal, project delays, and inflated costs. Economically, this leads to cost overruns, shrinking profit margins, and weakening sector performance. While both countries have introduced laws and enforcement initiatives, effectiveness remains limited. The study concludes that holistic solutions, combining legal reform, stronger institutions, community engagement, economic inclusion, and improved governance are essential.

PURPOSE Incorporating Industry 5.0 contents into the construction curriculum of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will increase the preparedness of future graduates for Industrial 5.0 and provide graduates that are fit for the industry. It is however unclear the level of contents of industry 5.0 in the construction curriculums of HIEs in South Africa and those approved by their regulatory body. It is in this regard that the paper examines the level of Industry 5.0 contents in the construction curriculum of HEIs in South Africa and those recommended by their regulatory body. DESIGN / METHODOLOGY / APPROACH Using a qualitative approach, this paper examines the curricula of 8 programmes offered by the 4 HEIs accredited by the South African Council for Project and Construction Management (SACPCM) and the SACPCM core knowledge requirements for educational programmes. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. FINDINGS The results of the content analysis of the institutions curricula showed that there was no explicit mention of specific Industry 5.0 technologies and concepts in the curriculum documents from tmost of the selected HEIs in South Africa. However, curriculum documents from the HEIs in South Africa show some elements related to sustainability, particularly in the context of sustainable rural development, housing, and urbanization. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The low level of Industry 5.0 contents in the construction curricula of HEIs in South Africa might affect student industry readiness. WHAT IS THE ORIGINAL / VALUE The paper is the first to examine the level of Industry 5.0 contents in the construction curriculum of HEIs in an South Africa context.

The construction industry is a major contributor to the economy of many nations; however, the industry is bedevilled by poor health and safety (H&S) records, leading to significant human and economic losses. This study systematically reviews the integration of H&S into the construction procurement system, identifying key drivers and barriers. Using a systematic literature review approach, 71 articles were analysed out of 21,407 records that were retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases to uncover the drivers and barriers to H&S incorporation into the procurement system. The study discovered the ambivalent influence of procurement methods, digital technology, legislation, and project ecosystem on H&S integration. The findings reveal that traditional procurement methods, low technology adoption, inadequate legislation, and negative management actions are major barriers. Conversely, modern procurement methods, robust digital technologies, clear legislative frameworks, and positive management actions serve as drivers. The study highlights significant research gaps, including limited empirical evidence on the long-term impact of procurement methods on H&S outcomes, especially in developing countries, and proposes future research directions to enhance H&S integration in construction procurement. There is a need for the enactment and enforcement of robust legislative frameworks that mandate H&S considerations in the construction procurement system. Also, contractors need to adopt modern procurement methods and leverage digital technologies to enhance H&S.

In recent years, off-campus student housing has gained significant attention in developing countries like Nigeria, driven by the surge in students’ enrolment into tertiary institutions. As investments in this sector grow rapidly, students are placing greater emphasis on specific characteristics of their accommodations, seeking satisfaction and value. Hence, this study investigates the physical characteristics of the off-campus, privately developed student housing with a view to providing information on the physical attributes of this asset class to aid investment decisions. This research employed a descriptive case study approach. The results and discussions were limited to quantitative evidence. A census sampling technique was adopted in gathering the study data from 73 individual student housing units out of the 92 units that were available in the studentified neighbourhood of Calabar. To ensure targeted data collection, the studentified neighbourhood was stratified into three distinct categories based on proximity to major tertiary institutions: the University of Calabar stratum, the University of Cross River stratum, and the College of Health Technology stratum. This stratification allowed for a comprehensive analysis of student housing physical characteristics within each institutional context. The findings reveal that student housing in the study area primarily features ensuite rooms (91.78%), with most measuring 9m2-11.99m2. Again, the results showed that student housing units typically have 21-40 rooms and are of flat-style designs (60.28%). Further analysis of student housing building contents, facilities and services led to the categorisation of the student housing into three groups. The groups are high-tech/premium, middle-end, and low-end student housing units. For strategic investment decisions, student housing investors should consider a holistic review of student housing building contents, facilities and services. This will enable the investors to align their investment motives to a particular student housing unit category.

This paper aimed to increase the awareness of real estate investors and developers by providing a cross-country comparison of the factors affecting investment in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). The paper analyses both local and international published literature to extract key findings pertaining to factors affecting investment in PBSA in studentified neighbourhood of tertiary institutions. Using a systematic literature approach in searching electronic databases, past studies were evaluated and analysed thematically based on specific content criterion for the purpose of identifying main factors driving and hindering investment in purpose-built student accommodation. The paper identified demand-related, return-on-investment related, investment-related and institutional-related factors as main drivers of investment in PBSA while e-learning facilities and potential oversupply of PBSA were identified as potential limitations affecting investment made in this real estate sub-market sector. It is therefore necessary that real estate investors should consider these factors while investment in this asset class.

Purpose: The concept of aging-in-place has gained notable significance in the last decade due to a dramatic demographic shift in global population dynamics that have considerably affected the ability of societies to adequately cater for their aging population. This paper examines some of the barriers to aging-in-place in the context of health needs, housing design and the role of retrofitting/smart home technologies in overcoming these barriers.Design/methodology/approach: Using a narrative literature review approach, the authors undertook a comprehensive search of recent relevant literature focusing on five core thematic areas: health and aging, aging in place, barriers to aging in place, retrofitting and smart home technologies for successful aging in place. The authors entered appropriate keywords into interdisciplinary research databases and synthesized a coherent narrative discussing the thematic areas using the data extracted from the literature search.Findings: There is a bidirectional relationship between aging and the home environment. Barriers to aging-in-place are mainly related to progressive decline in health, which alters the environmental needs of individuals. Appropriate building designs can significantly facilitate aging-in-place. The authors, therefore, highlight the role of retrofitting and smart home technologies as practical solutions to the challenges of the aging-in-place.Practical implications: Forward planning in building design is essential to guarantee that the home environment is well adapted for the challenges of aging-in-place while also promoting healthy aging.Originality/value: The paper shows the relationship between aging and the home environment and how building design considerations could enhance healthy aging-in-place.

Purpose: The Customary Land Delivery Institutions (CLDIs) provide the platform for the supply of developable land in most cities in sub-Saharan African countries. While there is a need to measure the effectiveness of CLDIs to compare their performance with others or themselves over time, there is however a dearth of evidence-based frameworks that could be adopted for such an assessment. This study developed a framework for the evaluation of the effectiveness of CLDIs. This is with a view to providing a tool for measuring the performance of land governance.Design/methodology/approach: A total of 46 good governance criteria for measuring the various dimensions of CLDIs generated from the literature were transformed into a measurable scale which was validated by a panel of 16 experts through a modified Delphi approach. A pilot study was also conducted on 42 land-based professionals to assess the reliability of the framework. Content Validity Index (CVI) was calculated for relevancy scores while clarity was measured by clarity score. Cronbach alpha was also employed to measure the reliability of the framework.Findings: The result of the 46 criteria validated by the experts revealed that 89.5% of items in the developed instrument have a content validity index (I-CVI) equal to or greater than the 0.85 threshold and a mean I-CVI of 0.90. With the CVI score and the analysis of the comments made by the experts, six items were removed from the instrument and a total of six new items were added. The final corrected instrument after a further iteration had a total of 46 items. The reliability test also revealed a Cronbach alpha score of 0.82.Research limitations/implications: This paper provides a framework useful for developing countries, especially in the development of land delivery policies and provides a framework for the analysis of the important aspects thereof.Originality/value: This paper demonstrates the development of a holistic framework for the assessment of CLDIs which hitherto were not in existence.

Land in the traditional African society is owned in collectivism and does not belong to individuals but the entire family which comprises the living, the reverend souls of the ancestors and the generations yet unborn. Meanwhile, when a family land is acquired compulsorily by the government or through the market by private firms, only a few family members of the family enjoy the compensation proceeds. The under-aged family members and the yet unborn generations are usually left out from the compensation proceeds from the family heritage (land). This has resulted in encroachment of land and land conflict to reclaim lost heritage by the then under-aged family members and the “yet unborn” generation when they come of age. It has also resulted in violent land conflicts and delay in projects planned for the acquired land. This paper examines the prospect of using intergenerational compensation (IGC) which will extend payment beyond a generation as a strategy for compensation in the customary land acquisition process. Utilising a qualitative approach, the paper examines the views of representatives of 23 selected indigenous landholding families (ILFs) and key informants in government offices providing land administrative services (GOPLAS) in Lagos State on the concept of intergenerational compensation. The findings reveal the willingness of the ILFs to accept the IGC payment strategy but the GOPLAS were unwilling to support the strategy. It also provides information on reasons for the support and opposition to the strategy and how it can be implemented.