Build-to-Rent and the financialization of rental housing: future research directions

Abstract

With the expansion of institutional investors into urban rental markets, many cities have witnessed a rise in Build-to-Rent (BtR). This article reviews the financialization of rental housing literature and identifies opportunities for urban housing scholars to progress understandings of BtR through future empirical and theoretical efforts. In particular, it proposes a broadening of the housing research agenda around three analytical entry points. These entry points relate to relatively understudied structural transformations of our urban housing systems implicated in the rise of BtR, namely: (1) the diversification of build-to-sell development models; (2) the evolution of the private rental sector; and (3) labour market–housing market realignments. Comparative inquiry promises to enrich understandings of BtR by revealing how city rental accommodation and tenancies are recalibrated by the investment imperatives of institutional investors and BtR asset shareholders, and with what benefits and at what costs to whom. Such contributions will also provide rich data to progress conceptual efforts to locate BtR within broader processes of housing financialization.     

Quantifying a century of state intervention in rental housing in Germany

The paper aims at measuring the general state intervention in rental housing market in Germany from 1913 through 2015. Four policy classes are considered: Incentives for social housing, tenant protection, housing rationing, and rent controls. Based on a legislation analysis, for each class an index measuring the degree of regulation is constructed. The indices reflect dramatic increases in regulations during and after the World Wars. The 2010s are characterized by a surge in all classes of regulations related to the growing housing scarcity in large cities due to interregional migration leading to a geographical mismatch between housing supply and demand.     

In search of profit: housing association investment in private rental housing

The traditional mission of housing associations in England is to provide non-profit housing let at sub-market rents to low-income and disadvantaged households. And yet in recent years, large ‘property developer housing associations’ have begun to invest in for-profit private rental homes let at market rents. Despite long waiting lists for their accommodation, these housing associations are mainly letting their for-profit rental homes to middle-income tenants rather than their traditional low-income clientele. Drawing on a ‘historical institutional’ conceptual framework, and combining structural and ‘agency’ explanations, this paper explores the reasons for this new trend. It argues that investment by large developer housing associations in for-profit and more upmarket rental homes will become increasingly important relative to their non-profit social housing. Over time, this ‘partial recalibration’ of their landlord role is likely to gradually transform the institutional rules, everyday practices and norms that shape their behaviour.     

BOT模式下公租房产权激励机制探讨

民间资本不愿意投资公租房项目的主要原因是项目投资回报率低。为了以BOT模式成功引入民间资本参与公租房投资建设,有必要建立相应的投资激励机制。产权激励是最主要的投资激励手段之一,因此本文在建立公租房项目收益函数的基础上,定量分析产权激励政策的激励效果,为促进我国公租房建设提供政策参考。     

Labour market change and housing market segmentation in south Australia's non-metropolitan private rental market

This paper reports on research into the relationship between labour market change and the private rental market in non-metropolitan South Australia for the period 1990 to 2000. It finds that there is considerable 'stickiness' within the market and that there has been a limited supply response to changing levels of demand. This has contributed to housing and labour shortages in some regions and over-supply in others. Each circumstance has generated considerable dilemmas for public policy.     

对公共租赁住房电气设计的几点看法

结合公租房建设经济、适用的原则,对公租房电气设计的要点进行了研究,对公租房供配电系统、电负荷、导线、照明开关设计等作了详细阐述,说明了电气的计算方式与弱电系统的设计方式,以达到节能环保,降低投资额度的目的。     

公共租赁住房供给政府决策研究

公共租赁住房是保障性住房体系中最为活跃的组成部分,受到政府部门、企业和社会公众的关注。针对公共租赁住房供给扭曲现象,从政府供给决策层面进行分析,通过对供给决策主体及相关者的划分,建立动态均衡的政府供给决策目标。构建由决策输入到决策输出的过程模型,模拟政府供给决策的阶段和任务,在此基础上提出优化公共租赁住房政府供给决策的路径。     

BOT方式在我国公租房建设中的应用探析

为解决公租房的资金及建设问题,利用BOT方式建设公租房,从结构框架、主要参与方责任、运行程序等方面进行了探析,以期为我国公租房的建设提供可参考意见。     

Telling stories: the role of narratives in rental housing policy change in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence of the regulation of housing conditions in the private rental sector as a policy issue in New Zealand using an analysis of narratives in media, advocacy and political texts. Narratives are evident in public discourse and are the stories told by interest groups to identify and cast a problem as a policy issue in a way analogous to the beliefs of the speaker. This case study shows that while the narratives used by advocates for policy change were effective in raising the issue, they were ineffective in overcoming a counter-narrative of excessive regulation by the government and concerns of possible rent rises. This opposition to regulation of the private sector by a right-leaning government needs to be more effectively countered by more powerful intersecting narratives, if evidence on the relationship between housing, health and safety is to become the basis for effectively implemented government policy.     

The private rental sector: Problems,prospects and policy

Abstract

Despite the neglect in research and policy for rental housing, there is a developing awareness of the problems of the private rental sector and the need for policy intervention. The paper suggests that the development of policies must proceed with caution; there are many areas where our knowledge of the problems and processes of the private rental market are insufficient for policy development.     

Promoting the supply of low income rental housing

There is disturbing evidence of a contraction in the stock of low income private rental housing. In this paper we offer evidence indicating that federal government tax preferences, economies of scope and higher operating costs are part of the explanation for this contraction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Rental Investors' Survey is used to gauge whether low income housing tax credits and tax-free capital gains thresholds can be used to promote the supply of low income rental housing.     

Promoting the supply of low income rental housing

Abstract

There is disturbing evidence of a contraction in the stock of low income private rental housing. In this paper we offer evidence indicating that federal government tax preferences, economies of scope and higher operating costs are part of the explanation for this contraction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Rental Investors’ Survey is used to gauge whether low income housing tax credits and tax‐free capital gains thresholds can be used to promote the supply of low income rental housing.     

The geographic and sociodemographic transformation of multifamily rental housing in the Texas Triangle

This study catalogues the location, clustering and sociodemographic distribution of the development of multifamily rental housing over the last five decades in the Texas Triangle, one of the fastest growing megaregions in the United States. The research reveals prior to the 1970s, apartments clustered in downtown areas; throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the development of apartments expanded to the suburbs and along major interstates; and in the 2000s, apartment growth continued in the peripheral areas while returning downtown. During this time period, apartments were developed most often in majority white, high-income and low-poverty neighbourhoods. These geographic and sociodemographic characteristics challenge widespread conceptions that equate multifamily rental housing with central city locations and low-income populations. The findings suggest that multifamily rental housing offers a powerful tool to increase residential density in downtown and suburban locations, while also accommodating a sociodemographically diverse population.     

The use of data from South Australia's rental tenancy tribunal for research and policy analysis: Issues of validity and efficacy

Abstract

This paper examines the value for research and policy development of rental tenancy data collected by the South Australian Rental Tenancy Tribunal (RTT). The data held by the RTT are for South Australia only, but comparable organisations exist in a number of other states, such as New South Wales and Victoria. Lessons learned from South Australia could serve as a pilot for the development of a new (semi‐) national framework for monitoring the private rental market.     

Understanding changing housing aspirations: a review of the evidence

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on changing housing aspirations and expectations in contemporary housing systems. It argues that there is a conceptual and definitional gap in relation to the term ‘housing aspirations’, as distinct from expectations, preferences, choices and needs. The article sets out working definitions of these terms, before discussing the evidence on changing housing (and related) systems. Emerging research has begun to consider whether trends such as declining homeownership, affordability concerns and precarious labour systems across a range of countries are fundamentally changing individuals’ aspirations for the forms of housing they aim to access at different stages of their lives. Whilst much of the research into housing aspirations has been considered in terms of tenure, and homeownership in particular, this article suggests that research needs to move beyond tenure and choice frameworks, to consider the range of dimensions that shape aspirations, from the political economy and the State to socialization and individuals’ dispositions for housing.     

The use of data from South Australia's rental tenancy tribunal for research and policy analysis: Issues of validity and efficacy

This paper examines the value for research and policy development of rental tenancy data collected by the South Australian Rental Tenancy Tribunal (RTT). The data held by the RTT are for South Australia only, but comparable organisations exist in a number of other states, such as New South Wales and Victoria. Lessons learned from South Australia could serve as a pilot for the development of a new (semi-) national framework for monitoring the private rental market.     

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.     

对中心城市公共租赁住房政策及实施的再评价

选取较早实施公共租赁住房的深圳,较具代表性的北京、重庆和上海四大中心城市,以其公租房政策演进为研究对象,分析比较自2010年6月以来各市在供给对象的范围、租金价格的确定、管理主体的确定等七个方面的发展变化;对中央政府公租房政策进行分析;研究公租房实施必须解决的现实问题,包括住房保障立法、资金的筹集和房源的筹集等方面。     

Financial Management in Public Housing Companies as Related to the Negotiating Process in Sweden

Social programmes tend to have some element of housing in their structure, and recent downward global trends have made studies popular that compare programmes or analyse changes. Within this context, the Swedish system has received attention because of its apparent long-term viability. Rents in this system are set through a negotiation process with tenant organisations, and this paper describes the process because it affects the financial condition of the housing. An ordinary least squares analysis of financial information has been made with regard to revenue generation capabilities, and the first difference results are discussed in terms of the negotiation process in the system. Those numbers suggest the system is improving revenue generation, but not operating profit.     

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。