Residential Satisfaction: Literature Review and A Conceptual Framework

Residential satisfaction, defined as the feeling of contentment when one has or achieves what one needs or desires in a house, is an important indicator for the planners, architects, developers and policy makers use it in several ways. There are three theories related to residential satisfaction which are housing needs theory, housing deficit theory and psychological construct theory, and most empirical studies have used these theories or a combination of these theories in their research design. Several variables representing housing and neighbourhood characteristics, socio-demographic attributes as well as their perceptions of housing and neighbourhood conditions have been analysed to indicate that further studies are required until a general theory of residential satisfaction or dissatisfaction occurs. Variables which are significant that influences on the level of residential satisfaction or dissatisfaction are vary according to the objectives of the study. This indicates that further studies on residential satisfaction can be carrying out on case specific context in guiding the housing policies.