Search, Mobility and Locational Choice: Preliminary Findings From the Experimental Housing Allowance Program

摘要

Three broad areas of the Experimental Housing Allowance Program (EHAP), a direct cash payment to low - income households for obtaining qualified housing, are considered: (1) the importance of housing search and residential mobility for altering the housing conditions of certain types of households; (2) the impact of program features on the processes of search, residential mobility, and location choice; and (3) the barriers which impinge on such processes for low - income households. Findings are based on analyses of 2 years of program data in the Administrative Agency, Supply, and Demand Experiments. Moving provided the mechanism for qualification for a substantial majority of renter households whose units initially failed inspections under housing quality standards programs. Over 50 percent of the households initially failing requirements who moved over a 2 - year period in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Phoenix, Ariz., (EHAP sites with particularly stringent minimum housing standards), however, moved to units which also failed to pass requirements. On balance, the program appears to have had no significant effects on the mobility of households. Three conditions in particular affect the ability of households to move: (1) the presence or expectation of discrimination facing households with particular characteristics; (2) the lack of financial incentive in the allowance to compensate a household for the added difficulty of finding a program - acceptable unit; and (3) the local housing market conditions. Tabular data and references are provided. (Author abstract modified).