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Introduction
Student housing has long been regarded as an essential component of the facilities provided by the higher learning institutions in assisting students to expand their intellectual capabilities. According to [16] Hassanain (2008), well planned student housing facilities (SHF) promote desirable educational outcomes and help to achieve the broader objectives such as social cohesion and responsible citizenship. An earlier study by [43] Zahran (1972) reveals that a good student housing promotes interactions between roommates of different backgrounds and specialisations; and thus broadens the students' knowledge. [2] Amole (2005) argues that facilities such as study areas or meeting places for academic discussions and social gatherings provided in the student housing will encourage informal intellectual activities outside the students' own faculties. [32] Price et al. (2003) related student interpersonal growth to adequate facilities and [13] Fay (1981) highlighted the importance of students' satisfaction in the SHF as a strategy to enhance student development.
Despite the importance of SHF, little literature is available to evaluate student opinions of their housing facilities. Most studies on post-occupancy evaluation focus on family housing either public or private residences, investigating the interaction between owner-occupiers or tenants and their housing settings. Majority of these studies utilised the concept of housing satisfaction when evaluating the interactions between the residents and their physical environment ([5] Amole, 2009b). Arguing that housing satisfaction can lead towards improving individual's quality of life, [35] Salleh (2008) investigates dwelling, housing services and neighbourhood factors that influence the residents of private low-cost housing in Malaysia. The study reveals that the residents are more satisfied with their dwelling units and housing services if compared to their neighbourhood facilities. [12] Elsinga and Hoekstra (2005) study housing satisfaction among European communities and find out that except in Austria, homeowners are more satisfied than the tenants because homeownership provides security, freedom and financial benefits. In contrast, [19] James (2008) analyses the influence of age and type of ownership on the level of satisfaction and establishes that tenant satisfaction increases with the age at a much faster rate than the type of homeownership.
However, student housing and family housing are not the same. Student housing comprises of basic bedroom units with other shared facilities such as bathrooms, toilets, laundry, kitchens, common lounges and cafeterias located...