How does increased competition on the housing market affect rents? an empirical study concerning sweden

The aim of the study is to investigate if more competition leads to lower rents on the housing market. Data about the rent level for similar apartments in 30 cities in Sweden were available. Three hypotheses were formulated: (H1) Increased ‘internal’ competition, measured by the market share of the municipal housing company (that dominates the market and is price-leader according to the Swedish system of rent regulation), leads to lower rents. (H2) Increased ‘external’ competition measured by the price level on the market for single-family owner occupied housing, leads to lower rents. (H3) Lower capital expenditure in the municipal housing company leads to lower rents. The statistical analysis showed a strong correlation between the rent level and the level of external competition, but no relation was found for the level of internal competition and the level of capital expenditure. A possible conclusion is that policies that make it easier for households to leave the rental market are important for increasing the pressure on the firms in the rental sector and reducing rents.     

The effect of market conditions on the housing outcomes of subsidized households: the case of the US voucher programme

Abstract

Since being created in the 1970s, housing vouchers have become the primary mode of federal housing support for low-income households in the US. The voucher programme was designed to provide recipients with the mobility needed to secure higher quality housing in neighbourhoods of their choice. Decades of analysis suggest that the programme has failed to produce the favourable outcomes envisioned by policymakers. To add to our understanding of the outcomes of this important federal programme, this paper seeks to underscore the importance of context-dependent policy analysis. In particular, this study analyses the impact of housing market conditions on the outcomes achieved by voucher recipients. Using neighbourhood and housing outcome data from the American Housing Survey, and median rent and rental market vacancy data, this paper demonstrates the important role that market conditions play in programme outcomes. The results from this study suggest that voucher recipients are successful at improving housing unit quality outcomes regardless of market conditions, but the ability to move to a better neighbourhood is a function of vacancy rates.     

广州市住房租赁新政对房地产市场影响的实证研究

为研究广州市住房租赁新政对房地产市场的影响,结合广州市实际政策与理论做出假设,认为在这些政策的影响下,广州市住房租赁市场扩大从而影响住房买卖市场,同时,房价对租金的影响会减小,租金对房价的影响会增大。通过建立租金与房价的VECM 模型进一步研究,发现实际研究结论与假设相符合,即新政前后租金与房价的关系发生了变化,据此可以从统计学的角度说明新政推动了住房租赁市场与住房买卖市场的互动和融合,这对于住房租赁市场的发展具有重大意义。并提出了继续扩大政策实施、增大租赁住房供给的同时也要保障租户权益、保量也要保质的政策建议。     

The Effects of Vacancy Control

This article examines changes between 1980 and 1990 in the number of rental units and the demographic composition of tenants in four California cities that adopted rent control with vacancy control provisions. Six border areas within the four cities were compared to border areas of adjoining cities that did not have vacancy control. A spatial lag regression model was constructed to estimate the changes in regional and neighborhood components in addition to vacancy control policies. Vacancy control contributed to lower rents and longer tenure by tenants compared to non-vacancy-controlled areas. There were also fewer rental units in part because of a shift from rental housing to owner-occupied housing.     

Rent Reform-Issues for the Countries of Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States

The transitional economies share common, serious problems in their public sector housing stocks, including poor condition and repair, and low rents which neither cover the maintenance and managementcosts, nor reflect the market exchange value of the houses. The paper begins by looking at the general background of rental policy and alternative approachesto rent reforms in the East-Central European transitional countries, and then goes on to consider the restructuring of the public rental sector, taking into account price structure changes and price increases in relation to income changes, and affordability. Current trends and problems in regulating rent policy at central and local levels are then considered, including factors influencing the restructuring of the public rental sector, the level of rents and utility prices, and rent reforms in relation to other institutional changes. The paper concludes that no wholly satisfactory reform model has been developed,mainly because each aspect of necessary reform conflicts with the short-term interest of some key actors. However,reform is argued to be essential, as the only plausible route to creating a functioning rental sector in these economies.     

THIRTY YEARS OF RENT CONTROL: A SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY CITIES

ABSTRACT: This study reexamines the conventional claims made by economists and policy analysts concerning modern rent control. We look at 76 New Jersey rent‐controlled cities over a 30‐year period and pose questions about the impact of rent control on rents, number of rooms, quality of units, and new rental construction using the latest Census data on cities for 2000. Our study is a comprehensive empirical study of rent control using multiple regression as the primary form of analysis. We find the intended impacts of New Jersey rent control over a 30‐year period seem minimal when you compare cities with and without regulations. Housing activists and policymakers need to look at new kinds of approaches to address rental affordability problems.     

Low Income Housing Tax Credit Programme Impacts on Housing Affordability in Australia: Microsimulation Model Estimates

Growing concern about a lack of rental housing affordable to low-income Australian households has prompted consideration of possible policy interventions. This paper estimates the potential housing market impacts of a tax credit targeted on rental housing affordable to low-income Australian households. The study finds that existing landlords in low-income rental housing benefit from a one-third or more reduction in their effective tax burdens. If these tax benefits are passed on in the form of lower market rents, it is estimated that the percentage of households paying more than 30 per cent of gross income in rents falls from 26 to 21 per cent. This impact would be larger but for eligible households in receipt of demand-side subsidies in the form of rent assistance. As a consequence, many low-income households receive only part of the low income housing tax credit benefits that are passed on into lower market rents. Moreover, higher income tenants occupy some of the cheaper rental housing targeted by tax credits, and this weakens the policy rationale for such supply-side measures. The paper advocates the adoption of headleasing arrangements to increase the share of benefits received by low-income tenants.     

Is private rental an option for urban housing provision in Hungary?

By 1998, 91 percent of all housing units in Hungary were occupied by owners –an extremely high percentage by international standards. Today's Hungarian housing politicians, whose anti-rental convictions stem from the experience of the previous regime, tend to disregard arguments about the consequences of this bias: the negative impact on mobility, the creation of a rigid housing market (lack of adaptability to the housing market), hardships in addressing social problems, conflicts between generations (obligations borne by elder generations) as well as the `compulsory' purchase of housing by younger generations and the drain of subsidies. There is extensive evidence that current Hungarian regulations are hostile to rental housing. With subsidies channeled to the ownership sector (housing construction benefits, interest subsidies, local subsidies, employer subsidies) as well as tax relief (purchase of privately owned housing, savings-linked subsidies, imputed rents), it is more expensive for households to rent than to buy or build housing. This leads to a distorted economic structure and a distorted use of society's resources. A housing policy based on modern economic theory pursues neutral subsidy and tax policies concerning ownership. Thus, from an economic point of view, there is no reason to prefer owner-occupied housing to rental housing. This paper explains why the private and public rental sectors are so small. But at a deeper level, the question is why private rented housing exists at all. The paper also explores related questions: who tend to rent out their units, why, for how long and how much; and who tend to rent these units, why do they rent them, and at what prices? The key policy issue is to define the basic impediments to the sector's expansion. On this basis, a new housing policy program can be formulated.     

公共租赁住房租金及定价政策研究探讨

首先,对欧洲、北美以及亚洲几个代表性国家的公租房定价机制进行分析,总结其可借鉴经验。然后,对国内包括福州、北京、广州等六个城市公租房定价现状进行研究,并对其租金定价方法、标准以及政府补贴等问题进行总结。     

Do urban casinos affect nearby neighbourhoods? Evidence from Canada

We analyse the effect of new casinos on nearby neighbourhoods using data from casinos opened in Canada between 1986?2007. We find no evidence linking casino openings to nearby population growth or changes in residents' income, composition by age, gender, marital status, and home ownership status. We find evidence of negative casino effects on the growth of housing values and rent. The effect is substantial near casinos, a nearly 8 percentage‐point loss in the growth of home values over 5 years, but has limited influence and dissipates quickly over distance. The estimated effect on housing rents is comparable in terms of standard deviation.     

The changing environment and neighbourhood satisfaction in socialist high-rise panel housing estates: The time-comparative perceptions of elderly residents in Prague

Population aging represents a significant trend in shaping contemporary urban areas, and research investigating various aspects of age-friendly cities and neighbourhoods has enjoyed increasing attention from urban scholars and practitioners. The neighbourhood transformations that have been taking place in socialist high-rise panel housing estates in the last 20 years raise concerns as to how they are experienced by local elderly populations. Although a number of studies have addressed recent developments in high-rise panel estates in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), little is known about the self-perceived residential quality of elderly inhabitants. This paper investigates the neighbourhood satisfaction of the elderly living in housing estates in Prague, the Czech Republic. The focus of this study is on their perceptions of the opportunities and barriers presented by the changing residential environments in relation to their daily independence. The paper takes a time-comparative approach based on face-to-face interviews with elderly adults from three different study areas. The findings suggest that neighbourhood satisfaction is influenced, among other factors, by the “life stage” of the housing estate, by the individual circumstances of moving to the neighbourhood and by the time to adapt to the new environment. Although the elderly evaluate housing estates as convenient places to live, the risks related to demographic aging and the deterioration of local facilities must be taken seriously.     

Tenant satisfaction with public housing management: Budapest in transition

Poor maintenance, low rents, and high levels of occupants’ dissatisfaction with their housing have been hallmarks of state‐rental housing in Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe. The introduction of private management has been touted as an efficient way to improve services and increase tenant satisfaction, thereby paving the way for higher rents. This paper uses a new data set for January 1992 for dwellings in Budapest which were state rentals in January 1990, the majority of which were still rentals at the time of the survey, to analyse the impact of private management on tenant satisfaction and willingness to pay. The central conclusion of this analysis is that the introduction of private management significantly improves the satisfaction with maintenance services of occupants of units owned by Budapest district governments and now typically managed by the public IKV management companies. Similar results were found for occupants of units privatised in the past two years. We take this to mean that private firms are providing more services more efficiently. Remarkably, the increase in monthly fees (compared with state‐administered rents) associated with private management are modest. This and other findings suggest a three‐part housing reform strategy: (1) a rent increase to finance improved services; (2) a major shift to private firms to provide management services; and, (3) introduction of a housing allowance programme to protect poor households from the full impact of rent increases and to make the rent hikes politically more acceptable.     

基于灰色关联分析法的公共租赁住房租金定价模型研究——以苏州市为例

针对我国公租房租金定价实践中出现的租金标准混乱、定价方法单一等问题,首先利用主成分分析法筛选城市,然后根据公租房租金定价原则选取灰色关联分析法的比较因素,建立租金定价模型,最终得到苏州市的公租房租金价格区间,并提出优化公租房租金定价的建议。     

Tracking mobility in the housing choice voucher program: a household level examination in Florida,USA

Previous research on the housing choice voucher (HCV) program has focused on neighbourhoods where voucher holders reside at one point of time. Little is known about mobility of voucher households during their tenure in the program. Using an administrative dataset that spans 11 years for the state of Florida, this study evaluates how often voucher households move and their mobility outcomes, measured by the change of neighbourhood poverty. Findings reveal that HCV households moved frequently beginning in the early years of program participation. Between 2007 and 2013 there was a notable decrease of voucher presence in high-poverty areas. Regression analysis further suggests that rental housing market conditions are significantly associated with mobility outcomes. White, non-Hispanic households and those with higher incomes were more likely to move to lower poverty neighbourhoods, whereas disabled and formerly homeless households moved more frequently and were not as successful in accessing lower poverty areas.     

In search of determinants for quoted housing rents: Empirical evidence from major German cities

Housing policy made a comeback on the German political agenda. Apartment rental prices increased drastically in most major cities over the last years. Despite wide agreement by policymakers regarding the need for regulation of the housing market, there is close to no empirical evidence on the drivers of rent prices. We follow a comparative, quantitative approach to determine the driving factors of rent prices in German cities, taking economic, societal and political variables into account and using time-series analysis. Our results show that the share of students and the local mean income account for differences in quoted rent prices.     

重庆公共租赁房室内空间适应性研究

公租房自“十二五”成为建设重点以来,各城市都对其进行着大规模的建造。重庆公租房的质与量都走在全国前列,其建设量大、受众群体多、社会影响面广.在政策背景的影响下,公租房内部空间具有自身的特征,而该特征又影响着公租房设计的可持续性。本文从住宅适应性理论视角出发,结合重庆公共租赁房现状,揭示其内部空间适应性设计的必要性．从结构、套型、过渡空间和主要功能空间四个方面探讨公租房空间的开放性和灵活性,使公租房内部空间能随时间的变化而变化,满足公祖房居住的多样性需求。     

INTERCITY RENT DIFFERENTIALS IN THE U.S. HOUSING MARKET 2000: UNDERSTANDING RENT VARIATIONS AS A SOCIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

ABSTRACT: This study extends the intercity rent differentials investigation by Gilderbloom and Appelbaum (1988) in relatively independent housing markets to see how it can be replicated using U.S. census data from the year 2000 against the 1970 and 1980 models with the addition of several new variables to measure its impact on intercity rents. We find that region, race, and climate no longer explain rent differentials in 2000 as it did in the 1980 research, while affirming that a large percentage of old houses and small mom‐and‐pop landlords causes rents to fall. We find that both the cost of homeownership and the level of household income remain critical factors in explaining the level of median rent across cities. We also find a strong correlation between cities with extensive anti‐war activity in the late 1960s and same sex households having higher rents, although more research needs to be done before we argue a causal relationship. We contend that sociology needs to be put back into the equation in order to understand how rents vary from city to city. Our explanation of rent variations adds a social dimension that most other researches miss. We also show how the amount of explanatory power is increased significantly by adding in a sociological dimension.     

公共租赁房建设中存在的问题与对策建议——以郑州市为例

公租房是我国未来保障房的主力,郑州市为推行公租房进行了积极的探索和实践,提出三房合一的保障房新模式。通过对郑州市公租房现状的调查,从土地来源、租金水平、资格申请条件及准入与退出机制等方面分析了公租房建设过程中的问题,在对英国、香港和重庆的公租房制度经验总结的基础上,提出了完善公租房制度的建议,指出完善土地供应制度、建立客观全面的准入与退出机制、进行全国动态联网公租房管理信息化,采取BOT 等融资方法解决公租房建设资金的相关对策。研究结果可为我国公租房制度的推行提供重要参考。     

Gated communities as new forms of segregation in post-socialist Budapest

In the cities of East Central Europe high-status gated residential enclaves emerged after the collapse of communism symbolizing the new dimensions of social segregation brought about by the post-socialist transition. Due to the highly liberalised housing market and the infiltration of global capital the proliferation of gated neighbourhoods became possible. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of gated communities in Hungary in general and in Budapest in particular. To find out the driving forces behind the gating phenomenon we apply the case study approach analysing the development of a typical gated neighbourhood in one of the suburban settlements of Budapest. During the research special emphasis has been placed on the attitude and behaviour of three types of stakeholders: the developers, local government and the homeowners. The Magdolna-völgy gated community reflects the contradictions that have characterised the transition of Hungary from single-party communist system to neo-liberal capitalism since 1990. The weak position of local municipalities as opposed to real estate developers can be related to the decentralised, deregulated public administration system and the laissez fair attitude of neo-liberal state. Gated neighbourhoods became symbols of polarisation and conflict within local societies. The case study demonstrates that the affluent section of society can efficiently segregate themselves from the rest of people, and can successfully privatise public spaces and create safe and privately controlled spaces behind the fences.     

Going too far in the battle against concentration? On the balance between supply and demand of social housing in Dutch cities

In the second half of the 1990s, Dutch urban housing policy shifted from urban renewal to urban restructuring and the creation of more socially mixed neighbourhoods. Motives for restructuring stem from the ongoing debates on concentration, segregation and social mix. Here, we focus on the main instruments of urban restructuring, that is, the demolition of social housing and the construction of more expensive rental and owner-occupied housing. Continued restructuring may eventually lead to a shortage of social rented dwellings for low-income households, the target group of social housing. An important political question is therefore whether the dwindling supply of social housing still matches the potential demand in the target group. We addressed this question with an analysis of three Dutch cities: Rotterdam, The Hague and Breda. The results indicate that, although demolition has brought about substantial changes, the share of social rented housing remains high in most restructuring neighbourhoods and restructuring has not resulted in concentrations of social rented housing in other, non-restructuring neighbourhoods in any of the three cities. In Rotterdam, which had a very large social housing stock at the beginning of the restructuring operation, there are still sufficient affordable homes for lower income households. However, in The Hague and Breda, restructuring has tightened the supply of social rental housing. The municipal authority in The Hague has attempted to remedy the situation by entering regional agreements to secure sufficient levels of affordable housing.