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Identifying Households which Need Housing Assistance

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  • Philippe Thalmann

    (Department of Architecture, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, EPFL-IREC, C.P. 555, 1001 Lausanne, Switzerland, philippe.thalmann@epfl.ch)

Abstract

This paper proposes a method for identifying housing affordability problems. The housing market being imperfect, high rent-to-income ratios might be the result not only of a taste for spacious housing but also of rent premia. Conversely, some households currently in advantageous housing may face difficulty when they move. A better indicator of affordability compares income to the average rent the market charges for housing deemed appropriate for a household, and a second indicator compares current housing consumption with appropriate consumption. We find that more than two households out of three that have high rent burdens could afford appropriate housing. Almost one household in two that cannot afford appropriate housing manages to keep its rent burden low. This paper makes a point for co-ordinating tenant-based assistance with other instruments of housing aid.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe Thalmann, 1999. "Identifying Households which Need Housing Assistance," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(11), pages 1933-1947, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:36:y:1999:i:11:p:1933-1947
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098992683
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gennadi Kazakevitch & Luc Borrowman, 2009. "Housing affordability: Proper Measurement for Informed Policy Making," Monash Economics Working Papers 08-09, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    2. Danny Ben-Shahar & Jacob Warszawski, 2016. "Inequality in housing affordability: Measurement and estimation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(6), pages 1178-1202, May.
    3. Ben-Shahar, Danny & Gabriel, Stuart & Golan, Roni, 2019. "Housing affordability and inequality:A consumption-adjusted approach," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Tilak Abeysinghe & Jiaying Gu, 2011. "Lifetime Income and Housing Affordability in Singapore," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(9), pages 1875-1891, July.
    5. Ikenna Stephen Ezennia & Sebnem Onal Hoskara, 2019. "Methodological weaknesses in the measurement approaches and concept of housing affordability used in housing research: A qualitative study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Ben-Shahar, Danny & Gabriel, Stuart & Golan, Roni, 2020. "Can't get there from here: Affordability distance to a superstar city," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Andrea Kunnert, 2016. "Housing Affordability in Austria. Tailoring the Ratio Approach in a Simple yet Effective Way," WIFO Working Papers 520, WIFO.
    8. Sherry A. Glied, 2008. "Mandates and the Affordability of Health Care," NBER Working Papers 14545, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Andrejs Skaburskis, 2004. "Decomposing Canada's Growing Housing Affordability Problem: Do City Differences Matter?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(1), pages 117-149, January.
    10. Bibik Natalya & Dril Natalia, 2017. "Trends of Housing Construction Development in Ukraine: Retrospective and Contemporary Situation," Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management, Sciendo, vol. 5(1), pages 51-61, November.
    11. Matlack, Janna L. & Vigdor, Jacob L., 2008. "Do rising tides lift all prices? Income inequality and housing affordability," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 212-224, September.
    12. Andrea Kunnert, 2016. "Housing Affordability in Austria by Age and Year of Move-in. Application of the Residual Income and Tailored Ratio Approach," WIFO Working Papers 521, WIFO.
    13. Diana Kusumastuti & Alan Nicholson, 2018. "Mixed-use development in Christchurch, New Zealand: Do you want to live there?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(12), pages 2682-2702, September.
    14. Philippe Thalmann, 2012. "Housing Market Equilibrium (almost) without Vacancies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(8), pages 1643-1658, June.
    15. Thalmann, Philippe, 2003. "'House poor' or simply 'poor'?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 291-317, December.
    16. Martin Lux, 2007. "The Quasi-normative Approach to Housing Affordability: The Case of the Czech Republic," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(5-6), pages 1109-1124, May.
    17. Gawel, Erik & Sigel, Katja & Bretschneider, Wolfgang, 2011. "Affordability of water supply in Mongolia: Empirical lessons for measuring affordability," UFZ Discussion Papers 9/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    18. Ekong, Christopher N. & Onye, Kenneth U., 2013. "Building Sustainable Cities in Nigeria: The Need for Mass and Social Housing Provision," MPRA Paper 88236, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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