GGR 357 H1F
Geography of Housing and Housing Policy
May 12, 2008
INTRODUCTION TO HOUSING
HOUSEHOLDS & HOUSING
DR. AMANDA HELDERMAN
Introduction
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The lecturer: Dr. Amanda Helderman
The syllabus: available hard-copies in class
The literature: see syllabus and slides
The assignment: will be made available online
Timelines
Academic conduct
Interpretations of the concept of housing and the
importance of studying housing
Households and housing
Contact information
Contact info:
Office:
Contact:
E-Mail:
Website:
Dr. Amanda Helderman
Sidney Smith Hall, 5.XX
Just before and after each session
Helderman@geog.utoronto.ca
(TBA)
Course topics/ syllabus
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Households and housing (today)
Tenure choice and socio-economic inequalities
Intergenerational transmission of homeownership
Unequal opportunities and social exclusion
Segregation on the housing market
Neighbourhood transitions
Access to housing: housing allocation
Housing affordability and quality
The meanings of home and attitudes towards
homeownership
The role of the state and other actors in the public
domain
Literature


Text book:
– Hulchanski, D. and M. Shapcott. 2004. Finding
room: Policy options for a Canadian rental housing
strategy. Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
(ISBN: 0-7727-1433-9)
Additional texts:
– Listed in syllabus
– Available through course website:
http:// (TBA)
Text book sale

Hulchanski, D. and M. Shapcott. 2004. Finding room:
Policy options for a Canadian rental housing strategy.
Toronto : University of Toronto Press. (ISBN: 0-77271433-9)

Available through lecturer
$15.00
Exact change only, on Wednesday


More announcements

Additional reading in the syllabus is required reading

Dare to be critical of the readings!
–
–
Text book
Papers from international journals
Assignment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individually written, unique research paper
Demographics and housing issues in Torontonian
neighbourhoods
Immediately relevant topic to this course
Due Date: June 20, 2008
Do not exceed 1,500 words!
Hard copy and digital copy (word only)
The paper should at least describe the demographic,
socio-economic and physical characteristics of the area
Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the
neighbourhood: http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/
Physical characteristics of the area: map
ALL RELEVANT LIT SHOULD BE USED!
Assignment

The assignment will be available on the
course website
–

Writing courses
–

See syllabus
Be aware of waiting times! Contact the writing
centre ASAP
Assistance from instructor (at least two weeks
in advance):
–
–
–
By providing 1-page draft outline well in advance of
appointment after class
By appointment after class
By email: Helderman@geog.utoronto.ca
Timelines

MIDTERM EXAM: Monday June 2, 2008, this room

DUE DATE PAPER: Friday, June 20, 2008
–
–

Drop box Office of Geography/ Program in Planning
Name student, student number, my name, course
June 23-27, 2008: FINAL EXAMINATIONS:
–
Exact date to be announced
Academic conduct

Doubt about proper academic conduct?
–

See undergraduate handbook
Paper/ written assignment
–
–
–
–
–
Original work for this course only (see handbook)
Appropriate referencing (see course website)
No wiki-pedia!
Individually written, unique paper
Authentic work
Academic conduct

Exams (midterm and final)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Two hours
No cheating (obviously!)
No aids
Doctor’s notes within reasonable time
2 short answer questions, 3 essay questions of
which 2 must be answered
No points for questions not answered
Concepts of housing

Why is housing important?
?
Concepts of housing

What is housing?
Concepts of housing




Basic concept of housing often refers to “shelter”
Housing sector: housing is a physical product of a large
sector of the economy
Housing market: virtual market in which housing
changes owners and occupants
Housing stock: existing housing units in a certain area
of different types, not all equally accessible for
everyone
Concepts of housing

Alternative definitions/ meanings:
– Physical product/ facility: “bricks and mortar”
Concepts of housing
–
–
Commodity/ Economic good: exchange good
Investment good: asset
Concepts of housing
–
Sector of the economy: industry/ construction
Concepts of housing
–
–
Social/ collective good: in social networks and in
consumption of services
Building block for neighbourhoods
Defining Housing

Complexity of housing: all alternative definitions are
applicable at the same time, some meanings are
separated and confused 

Broad definition: BUNDLE OF SERVICES (for builders,
owners and renters)
– Physical facility
– Shelter
– Consumption of services: public, schools,
environment, etc.
– Location/ accessibility
The services delivered by housing
Access to/ occupancy of housing delivers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Shelter from the elements
Value/ wealth  equity for owners
Shelter from ‘taxes’  e.g. capital
Accessibility to services (e.g. schools)
Accessibility to work
Accessibility to neighbourhood
Social status
Right to privacy/ exclusion
Services…
Role of
location!
Inputs and services
Production relations
Shelter
Physical facility (material)
Equity
Capital investment
Satisfaction and status
Labour and
entrepreneurship
Land and location
Environment/
neighbourhood
Environment
Accessibility
Labour-intensive
Social relations
The importance of housing

Why is housing important and why is housing a unique
commodity?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
High cost
Durability
Fixity (location)
Limited adaptability
Complex and diverse housing stock
Links to services
Imposed by government regulation
Externalities/ exogenous influences
Importance to quality of life
Importance to self identity
Segmentation of housing




Immobility and physical durability of housing limits the
degree of substitution possible between different types
and styles of housing
This may lead to the segmentation of the urban
housing stock and the operation of sub-markets
This restricts choices open to some consumers of
housing
Recurring theme in housing research, and also in the
next few classes
The importance of housing



Housing is the built environment for intraurban
migration and mobility
Housing competes with other uses in the urban land
market for accessibility and space
Housing is the principal mechanism through which
urban neighbourhoods change, and one of the
stimulants of change (session on neighbourhood
transitions)
–
–
–
–
Moves of households/ activities, demographic change
New (demographic/ economic/ social/ cultural)
developments
Aging of real estate
Fluctuations in house prices
Literature Basic Housing Concepts

Bourne, L. (1981), Concepts, Context and
Information. In: The Geography of Housing,
chapter 2.
–

Of interest in this chapter: Hägerstrand’s time-space
theory
Slides and literature will be made available
through course website
–
URL will follow on Wednesday
Households and Housing




Immigration – household formation - housing demand
Concepts for residential relocation
Residential relocations and life course theory
Moving distance and motives for moving
Introduction
Popular topics in recent research





Labour market interactions
Decision making
Housing choices
The importance of the micro level
The importance of the macro level
Household and Housing

Why is it important to study households and housing?
– Households create a set of circumstances in local
housing markets by their combined behaviour

Matching process: adjustments in housing consumption
usually takes place through residential relocations
– Important for understanding housing market
dynamics
Residential relocations



Dissatisfaction
Life events/ triggers
Macro level factors
Consecutive homes
People generally move:
 From smaller to larger dwellings
 From rented to owner-occupied dwellings
 From apartments to single family dwellings

Housing satisfaction: Each home is assumed to fit the
household’s need better than the previous home
–
–
–
Benefits should outweigh the costs to undertake a move
Expanding households: Need for space
Incomes rise with age: resources accumulate over time
Models for housing market behaviour
Traditionally in terms of streams of relocations, and
origins and destinations (aggregate patterns):



Gravity models
Push/pull models
Markov Chains
Gravity models: interactions between
places

Assumptions based on the characteristics of places:
–
–
Size of places
Distance between places
Push/pull models: flows of individuals

Assumptions based on individuals assessments of:
–
–
–
conditions that push the person to consider moving;
attractions of the place of destination; and
intervening factors that affect the cost of the move
(Recurrent) Markov chain: aggregate model
“Models moves between different homes and calculates
probabilities of moving to each home in the chain”
Example: hermit crabs
Moves/ residential mobility
Vacancy
Other approaches


Micro-economic approaches
Life cycle/ Life course perspective
(Individual) economic approaches

Sjaastad: “The costs and returns of human migration”
–
–
–
–
–
Migration as an investment in human capital
Anticipated stream of benefits alternative location vs.
obtainable benefits current location
Migration as an adjustment mechanism that may narrow
geographic income differentials
Opportunity costs
Monetary and non-monetary (psychological) costs
Larry Sjaastad
Economic decision making
Monetary
Non-monetary
-Moving costs
-Foregone earnings
-Attachment to home
-Travelling
-Job search
-Training for new job
Non-monetary costs

Psychological attachment to the home:
-Place of family tradition
-Familiar environment
-Status
-Personal adjustments in the home
-Identification with the home as a safe
place from which to venture
out into the world
Life cycle approach
Rossi, 1955, Why families move
“Changes in the household lead to adapting the housing
situation to new needs in the household”
Life cycle approach
Brown & Moore, 1970


Dissatisfaction/ stress to be relieved by relocating
Decision is a two step process
–
–

Relocation decision
Search for and evaluation of alternative dwellings (place
utility: site utility and situation utility)
Dissatisfaction due to changes in the household and
macro factors are not the only factors determining a
relocation decision…
Life course perspective
Incorporates life cycle perspective, individual economic
perspective, and macro factors
Parallel careers in which triggers for moves may occur:
Household career, Labour career, Educational career
and Housing career.
Offers the opportunity to link demographic events with
demographic behaviour with the goal to uncover causal
processes
Life course, parallel careers
Child birth
Cohabation Child birth
HH
Job change
LB
ED
HS
Job change
Enrolling into higher education
Divorce/ separation Remarriage
Widowhood
Life course: paradigm shift in the social
sciences






Convergence of theory and empirical work
Devoted attention to the individual household
Brought the topic of residential relocations into the
centre of housing studies
Linking individual action with social change and social
structure
Demographic events introduced as milestones and
critical transitions in people’s lives
UNIVERSAL: these events apply for almost everyone,
and occur everywhere and throughout history
Life course perspective




Young adults (20-35) are by far the most mobile
segments of the population
Still shaping their parallel careers
Larger probability that they go through an important
transition that requires a residential move
Average mobility decreases while the individual
progresses through the life course stages
Life course stages
Life course stages:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Home making
Child bearing
Child rearing
Post child
Moving distance and motives





Most moves are short distance moves
Predominant motive: adjustment of housing
characteristics
For shorter distances, job change may not be necessary
Changing jobs may necessitate a move
Long distance moves may be facilitated by employers
and governments
Moving distance and motives
other
job
frequency
household
housing
distance
The environment of the home
W
H
NH
(Partial
displacement)
After: Roseman, 1971
The environment of the home
W
W
H
NH
(Complete
displacement)
After: Roseman, 1971
Three topics in recent research
1.
2.
3.
Changing jobs and changing homes
Decision making by multiple household members
Sub-optimal housing outcomes
Changing jobs and changing homes


Commuting costs and commuting times affect
residential relocations and job mobility
Particularly complicated relocation decisions for dual
income households (two locations of work)
Mincer, 1978:
 Tied movers (move for sake of partner’s career)
 Tied stayers (kept from moving b/c partner)
Decision making by multiple household
members

Individual decision making involves all individual
aspects of alternatives

Household decision making considers the dwelling and
location aspects separately for all household members:
-Dwelling: number of rooms, type of home,
costs, tenure
-Location: commuting times, type of
neighbourhood, frequency public transport

Members of current and potential households
(marriage, divorce etc.)
Importance of life course theory for
housing decision outcomes

Suboptimal outcomes of decision making processes:
–
–
–
–
–
Changed income/ resources
Changed need for space
Limited time available
Limited knowledge of place of destination
Preference for a certain type of housing (tenure)
Sub-optimal housing outcomes
Settling for a less preferred dwelling:





Present housing situation
Enrolling into higher education
Changing jobs
Marriage
Divorce
The importance of the micro level

Households create a set of circumstances in local
housing markets by their combined behaviour

Brown & Moore, 1971: “Studying the micro level is
important for identifying key factors that are important
at the aggregate level and for creating a conceptual
basis for the design of models”.
The importance of the macro level






Metropolitan housing market: affordability and
availability
National economic circumstances
Demographic circumstances
Housing policy, wealth levels and tenure structures
Personal level: resources and restrictions, motives
Macro level: opportunities and constraints, choice set
Literature Households and Housing
-
Bourne, L.S. (1981), Concepts, context and information. In:
The Geography of housing. Chapter 2. p. 13-38.
-
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (2007),
Demographic and Socio-economic Influences on Housing
Demand. In: Canadian Housing Observer 2007. pp. 23-36.
-
Clark, W.A.V. & F.M. Dieleman (1996), Housing and the life
course. In: Households and housing. Choice and outcomes in
the housing market. Rutgers: the state university of New
Jersey. Chapter 2. pp. 22-38.
-
Dieleman, F.M. (2001), Modelling residential mobility; a
review of recent trends in research. Journal of Housing and
the Built Environment (16), pp. 249-265.