DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FEMALE GENDER IN THE PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

The private rented sector in Nigeria has been bewildered by non-lease performance, and the tenant selection process has been the center of attraction for proffering solutions to this menace. The Data for this study were obtained from sixty-eight (68) Estate Surveying and Valuation firms in Ibadan and two hundred and seventy (270) female tenants in their management portfolio. The data gathered by the researcher were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency distribution table, weighted mean score, and factor analysis). The result of the study revealed that 29 (42.6%) of the sampled estate surveying and valuation firms were rarely disposed to giving accommodation to female prospective tenants, while 14 (20.6%) and 10 (14.7%) were occasionally and never disposed to providing accommodation to female tenants. Sampled female tenants opined that discrimination against female tenants by property agents, marital status, and low income were the major factors causing delays in getting accommodation in the Ibadan private rented sector. Landlord discriminatory attitudes, property agent consideration, and security factors were the significant factors influencing discrimination against the female gender in tenant selection in the study area, as opined by the respondent Estate Surveyors and Valuers. The study underscores the crucial role of government and non-governmental organizations' intervention in sensitization against gender discrimination in Nigeria, developing and implementing a clear policy against female gender discrimination in the private rented sector, and the economic empowerment of the female gender.