Housing policies play an important role in determining the spatial distribution of people. The allowance, or restrictions, on the use of housing for short-term letting can change the demographic make-up of a neighbourhood. It is commonly believed that permissive home purchasing by international investors results in neighbourhoods with unoccupied houses. By influencing the spatial distribution of both the demand for labour—as residents demand locally provided goods and services—and the supply of labour—as employees often prefer housing nearer to their work—housing policies interact in important ways with local labour markets.
How housing policy interacts with local labour markets is not well understood, nor is it straightforward, but it has important consequences for how responsive an urban area is to change. For example, an expensive urban centre in which low-paid workers are unable to afford accommodation may be slower to respond to an increase in demand for local service employment. In this way, housing policy may also play an important role in local growth multipliers, a measure of responsiveness to economic stimulus.
This research programme is expected to result in important recommendations for how affordable housing should be designed and provided to work with existing and future labour market opportunities in urban areas.