Measurement and Prediction of Housing Condition and Rehabilitation Need

摘要

This report presents the results of a study designed to test new methods for assessing housing condition and the need for rehabilitation in the Nation's housing stock. Using inspection data from 290 dwellings in Boston, Mass., the study derived several measures of housing condition, rehabilitation need, and rehabilitation cost. It then explored the feasibility of using interview data similar to those collected by the Annual Housing Survey to predict the above measures for individual dwelling units and for neighborhoods. It was found that a large proportion of the sampled dwelling units (83 percent) were inadequate with respect to housing quality standards and acceptability criteria of the Section 8 existing housing program. The most frequently encountered deficiencies were those in the categories of illumination and electricity, structure and materials, and thermal environment categories. Reasons for the failure to meet the standards were varied and unrelated to each other. There was inconsistency between what respondents said about their dwellings and what trained inspectors found. Major rehabilitation was needed for 41 percent of the sample. Three different measures of rehabilitation need -- a combination of Section 8 definition, the number of deficiencies, and the severity measure -- provided more information than a nominal measure of condition by itself. The average costs for repairs necessary to meet Section 8 standards were calculated at $96 for the low condition and $1,073 for the high condition measure. Neighborhood level models of condition and cost showed relatively high levels of predictive power. This approach should be extended in the future to explore a more heterogeneous housing sample. Four appendices document study methodology. Tabular data are given. (Author abstract modified).