Assessing beneficiaries' needs and expectations as a determinant of residential satisfaction in South Africa

Purpose: There is an integral link between theory and measurement suggesting that validation of measures should be the first stage of theory testing. The purpose of this paper is to validate the factorial validity of needs and expectations (NAE) features as determinants of low-income residents' housing satisfaction in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire survey conducted among 751 low-income housing residents' in three metropolitan and one district municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data gathered via the questionnaire survey were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) version 6.2 which was used to assess the factorial structure of the constructs. Findings: SEM analysis revealed that the internal consistency coefficients were over 0.70 criterion for acceptability and the constructs showed a good mode fit to the sample data. The Z-statistics analysis revealed that the construct (NAE) have direct influence in determining low-income residents' satisfaction with their houses. Originality/value: The SEM result advocates a practical consideration of the construct and its respective indicator variables in future development of low-income housing in South Africa.