Low-income households’ responses to residential dissatisfaction: a phenomenological approach

Residential dissatisfaction occurs due to a discrepancy between  residents’ expectations and their residential environment. This  phenomenon appears in a confrontation process, mostly in low-income  families who cannot afford to relocate, calling for extracting their  lived experiences. This study aimed to extract the consequences of  residential dissatisfaction so that residents’ various coping strategies  were narrated. This narrative was achieved through transcendental  phenomenology and semi-structured interviews. The residents of Mehr  housing scheme contributed to expressing the mentioned narrative through  purposive sampling of Minudasht, Iran. Meanwhile, transcriptions were  divided into three categories: revision of needs, change in the physical environment and relocation.  The results included eight themes that residents showed to residential  dissatisfaction. Residents’ strategies for dealing with residential  dissatisfaction were also structured by an analytical framework  encompassing individual/family, social, internal and external aspects.  This article provides fresh insights into residents’ responses to  residential dissatisfaction both in theory and practice.