A Comparative View of Housing Choices in Controlled and Uncontrolled Housing Markets

Abstract

The research reported in this paper evaluates the relative contributions of economic and demographic variables in determining tenure and housing type choice and the extent to which tenure choice in US and Dutch housing markets is similar. Data from the American Housing Survey National file (1983) for approximately 1500 owners and 4000 renters was examined in the context of the PRU (proportional reduction in uncertainty) and ANOTA (analysis of tables) models. The results provide convincing evidence of the role of income, rent of previous dwelling, size of household and marital status. Renter choices are more dominated by income than are the choices of owners. A comparison of the US results with those for the Dutch housing market reveals that the owner models are similar in both housing markets but for renters the importance of size of household suggests the impact of policy controls on access to housing in the Dutch housing market.