THE EFFECT OF INFORMAL LAND MARKET ON LAND VALUE IN KUMBOTSO LGA, KANO STATE

ABSTRACT Informal land market which refers to the land transactions that occur outside the official, government regulated systems driven by various interconnected factors such complex Land registration procedure, high cost of formal land and rapid urbanization has created substantial risks of potential future disputes, tenure insecurity and slow infrastructure development that greatly affect land value. This study investigates the effect of informal land markets on land value in Dambare, Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria. Using a quantitative research approach, data was collected through questionnaires from 305 respondents involved in land matters out of 381 targeted participants, responses were collected based on 4-point Likert scale. The sampling method that was adopted in the study was stratified sampling techniques, and the data collected were presented and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages. The research identified prevalent types of informal land market operations including traditional authority-mediated transactions, family consent systems, and hybrid documentation practices. Key drivers of informal markets include the prohibitively high cost of formal registration, bureaucratic complexities, and customary inheritance systems. Significant barriers affecting land value in informal markets include poor infrastructure development, financial exclusion through non-acceptance of informal documents by institutions, and documentation issues leading to ownership disputes. The findings reveal that informal land markets operate within a complex socio-cultural framework that balances accessibility with security trade-offs, ultimately influencing land values through social validation mechanisms rather than formal legal recognition. The study recommends incremental formalization approaches, traditional authority integration into formal systems, simplified registration procedures, targeted infrastructure development, and innovative financial inclusion mechanisms to enhance land value and market efficiency while acknowledging informal realities.