Housing Allowances and Local Area Variation in Residential Mobility. Experimental Housing Allowance Program

摘要

Residential mobility is one of the areas slated for research in the integrated analysis of the Experimental Housing Allowance Program (EHAP). The first in the residential mobility series to examine data from the experiments, the present report analyzes why mobility rates vary across local areas in an EHAP, using data from the housing allowance experiments, particularly the Demand Experiment. Data from the 1970 Census and from a national sample of households is also used to examine the relationships between selected housing market variables and local mobility rates. Study findings include the following: (1) residential mobility is an important aspect of behavior in a housing allowance program; (2) substantial variation across EHAP sites can be expected in the mobility of enrolled households during the experiments; (3) population mobility rates are not sensitive to local housing vacancy rates or to the level of urbanization; and (4) mobility rates are highest in growing areas. Several conclusions are pertinent to housing allowances: (1) the relative importance of mobility and improvement in meeting program housing requirements will vary across EHAP sites; (2) growing areas would have an advantage in a national housing allowance program; (3) families can sometimes improve their dwelling unit without moving, but neighborhood improvement generally requires a move; and (4) for about 40 percent of the national program - eligible population who own their homes, housing improvement through mobility will The report includes gprovides three appendices showing data sources and variable definitions, census measures of geographic mobility, and further data analysis for the city of Pittsburgh, Pa.