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Several governments in developing countries have attempted via policies and programmes to improve access to low-cost housing (LCH) finance for low-income house owners, but sustainability has been an issue. Therefore, sustainable LCH (SLCH) financing framework may mitigate issues hindering LCH financing sustainability in developing countries. There is a paucity of studies about SLCH financing through a framework in Nigeria. Thus, the study investigated the barriers facing low-income earners (LInEs) accessing SLCH finance and developed a framework for promoting Nigerian SLCH financing.

The research employed a soft system methodology (SSM) to understand Nigeria’s LCH financing sustainability. The adopted method permitted a substitute to enhance LCH financing sustainability part way through a developed framework. The study conducted interviews across seven cities in Nigeria with selected practitioners.

The results were presented using the SSM seven steps. Findings reveal the state and barriers facing LInEs in accessing SLCH finance. Also, findings show that there is a need for a finance framework. It would improve sustainability, especially for intending low-income house owners across Nigeria’s cities. Findings include a framework to reposition LCH financing sustainability to promote homeowners for intending low-income house owners across Nigeria’s cities.

Besides the developed LCH financing sustainable framework, housing policymakers and developers can employ SLCH financing to improve low-income intending house owners in Nigeria. This may be the first study to develop a SLCH financing framework using SSM in a developing economy.

Studies have shown that research is a global innovation’s “engine room.” Therefore, young adult-built environment researchers (YABER), especially in developing countries, need research upskilling and reskilling training for better-integrated outcomes. Evidence shows that research training can improve YABER competencies and proficiencies. In Nigeria, YABER may have had some challenges in training needs. There is a lack of extant literature about the issues facing Nigeria’s YABER upskilling and reskilling training needs. Thus, this study investigated the perceived problems facing YABER and proffered measures to improve their training needs in Nigeria.

The researchers used participants from Edo State, Abuja and Lagos State, Nigeria. This study adopted a qualitative research approach. The researchers accomplished saturation after 40 virtual interviews and adopted a thematic analysis for the primary data.

The research shows that the built environment research refines current and creates new knowledge. The built environment researchers (trainers and trainees) need training but face challenges. Findings clustered measures to improve quality research publications in the built environment through YABER training into government/regulatory agencies-related, higher education institutions-related and researcher-related measures.

The developed framework and thematic network analysis could be used to stimulate YABER training needs and, by extension, stir Nigeria’s higher education institutions regulatory agencies to upgrade requirements for academic staffers, especially published articles, to be compulsorily Scopus/Web of Sciences indexed for promotion exercise. This is the global best practice, and Nigerian scholars cannot be in isolation. It will form part of this study’s implication and revitalise UNSDG 4.

In developing countries, informal construction artisans are vital to economic growth. Governments encourage enrolment into micro health insurance schemes to sustain artisans’ well-being and achieve universal health coverage. The peculiarity associated with the informal construction artisans may hinder the scheme enrolment, particularly in Nigeria. It may threaten to improve achieving sustainable development goal 3 (good health and well-being). This study investigated the level of awareness and causes and suggested measures to improve micro health insurance policy enrolment for construction artisans in the informal sector and, by extension, improve the achievement of Goal 3.

This study adopted face-to-face interviews to collect data in Lagos and Benin City, Nigeria. The researchers engaged 40 participants and achieved saturation at the 35th participant. The researchers manually analysed the collected data and reported the findings using the thematic approach.

Results showed low enrolment of informal sector construction artisans into micro health insurance schemes and identified the contributory factors. This includes poor awareness and poor funding of micro health insurance schemes, lax expertise and understanding of the micro insurance market space, extreme poverty, poor medical services, uneducated clients/customers/consumers, etc.

As part of the study’s implications, it recommends that the government invest more in social health for the informal sector’s low-income earners to enhance accomplishing universal health coverage and, by extension, improve achieving Goal 3. This study may stir policymakers to call for a review of the National Health Insurance Authority Act 2022 with implementable and enforceable clauses to reduce uninsured informal sector construction artisans.