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Over the past two decades, many European countries have witnessed new immigration patterns related to the gradual expansion of the European Union (EU). While migration motives and labour market positions of EU migrants are well-understood, relatively little is known about their housing positions in the hosting countries. Using sequence analyses and logistic regression on longitudinal register data from Statistics Netherlands, this article examines housing trajectories of EU migrants from seven countries in the Netherlands, over an eight-year period (2012–2019). Our results show that, while housing trajectories vary substantially in terms of length of stay in the Netherlands and access to social housing, private renting and homeownership, sharing is at the centre for all migrant groups, both as a temporary and long-term solution. Moreover, we show that varying housing trajectories can partially be explained through contrasting demographic and socio-economic profiles. Yet, even after controlling for such factors as income, age, and household composition, some differences between country of origin persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition and materialization of smart homes has changed over time in accordance with technological advancements and changing housing trajectories. Despite this, to date little research has problematized what different household types and tenure mean for the smart home. As housing markets become more diverse and technology becomes increasingly embedded in the everyday, critical attention needs to be paid to ways in which technologies are being used to mediate households beyond the owner-occupied, nuclear family home. Thinking critically about this is necessary in order to better understand the benefits and pernicious effects of technology on people who have different needs for technology within the home due to different tenures and different materializations of housing and home. This article situates the rented and shared house as the 'actually existing' smart home. It shows that those sharing housing use smart technologies performatively, subversively and as an infrastructure of care across all stages of the share housing cycle – from finding a place to live, to managing the household and maintaining relationships. In doing so the shared smart home offers an alternative smart home reflecting a household diversity that smart home discourse has, to date, largely been blind to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study whether and to what extent social media information can reduce (ethnic) discrimination in a two-sided market characterized by asymmetric information. We analyze whether information that breaks with prevailing ethnic stereotypes might induce the uninformed side of the market to update its probabilistic beliefs on a desired, but hidden quality of an ethnic minority applicant. We create eight social media profiles (male and female) and apply for 3,676 vacant room ads for shared housing on a two-sided platform. The profiles are each identical within one gender, except for the different names assigned to them: two profiles of each gender are assigned a Turkish-sounding name, two a German-sounding name. To each application, we randomly assign one of the eight names and whether it contains a link to the corresponding social media profile. When an application includes such a link, the otherwise substantial discrimination against applicants with Turkish-sounding names is not only significantly reduced, but almost eliminated — hinting at the potential of social media information that breaks with prevailing stereotypes to reduce (statistical) discrimination. • We study the role of social media information to reduce ethnic discrimination. • The social media information are apt to break stereotypes about the ethnic minority. • We find this social media information to almost eliminate ethnic discrimination. • The most disadvantaged group benefits the most from social media information. • We provide direct evidence on social media information being actually assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic pressures, demographic changes and digital technologies are reshaping housing pathways as rented, shared and digitalized. In Australia, a growing proportion of adults are renting in the private market, often in shared accommodation. We know little about shared housing because the shared rental sector remains largely "hidden". Online shared housing platforms offer insights into how people seek homes in a market where personal attributes are marketed alongside properties and rent. We use over 9000 Flatmates.com.au listings to identify the demographic features of shared households and potential tenants, with a smaller subset used to illuminate the characteristics that are sought after and marketed by people searching for a shared home. Our analysis reveals that the "ideal flatmate" is one who contributes to social relations in the home while rarely being at home. These insights highlight the limits of shared housing markets for long-term tenure because ofconstraints on home-making practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most housing forms and living arrangements in contemporary cities are designed for settled populations, and housing markets poorly address the needs of mobile population groups. This paper explores the housing forms and living arrangements which emerge from the conditions of temporality and mobility and are practised by the middle-income group of high-skilled transnational professionals. The study is based on 65 semi-structured interviews with migrants from Western countries in Moscow and London. Three inter-related factors of highly mobile living are found to shape the particular housing demands of this migrant group. Firstly, the need for economic flexibility determines the preference for sharing options rather than for individual renting. Secondly, the travelling pattern of their jobs imposes time-related housing limitations, and their life-course stage may require flexibility. Thirdly, this migrant group expresses requirements for physical and functional comfort of housing, as well as access to amenities and a sense of community, despite their detached lifestyles. However, although most of these housing needs are known in the literature, they have not yet been examined in relation to the mobile living of transnational professionals, and this paper illuminates this research gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of mounting housing market pressures and an international swell in the formation of non-family households, especially among younger-adults, this paper examines share house (shea-hausu), an increasingly popular form of shared private rental housing in Tokyo. We frame our study in relation to shifting socioeconomic and demographic conditions affecting single, young Japanese adults, their aspirations and life-courses, as well as forms and practices in Japanese housing. We elaborate on the way shea-hausu are provided, and discuss three sets of techniques that together configure shea-hausu as a product distinct from other forms of renting, but also re-script sharing as a particular kind of 'desirable living' among single young adults. Furthermore, we show how shea-hausu both enables the pursuit of new experiences of 'home' and further entrenches traditionalist views of the needs and wants of solo dwellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia faces a chronic shortage of affordable rental housing, as do many other nations in the Global North. Unable to access the formal rental sector, lower-income earners are increasingly resorting to share housing and other informal arrangements, sometimes occupying makeshift accommodation or illegal dwellings. This article examines informality in Sydney's housing market, an important case because of the explicit policy efforts geared towards supporting diverse and higher density housing supply. It draws on analysis of the regulatory planning framework and primary data derived from interviews and focus groups with housing advocates, support workers and building compliance officers from across the metropolitan region. It seeks to understand the drivers of supply and demand within the informal housing market and constructs a typology of informal tenures and dwelling provision. The article contributes new empirical data on the outcomes of planning policies designed to enable flexible housing responses which legitimise some informal practices, and the wider dimensions of informal housing provision within formal urban systems of the Global North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the wider affordability crisis affecting major cities throughout the world, share housing has become increasingly important, potentially expanding capacity in the private rental sector. But share housing is difficult to monitor and research, embedded in various forms of tenancy and household arrangements within the wider housing system. Online rental platforms which increasingly enable and facilitate the share housing sector may also offer a critical window into its operation. This paper examines this possibility with reference to Sydney, Australia, drawing on listings scraped from share housing platform "Flatmates.com.au" to determine the scale and distribution of shared housing vacancies relative to the city's wider housing market. Our findings demonstrate rising dependence on share housing as a source of lower-cost rental supply near employment and education but raise questions about share accommodation as a long-term housing solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With Africa’s urban transition underway, housing is a formidable challenge. Housing shortfalls and continued slum growth are consistently forecast. But what kinds of housing do current residents occupy? Do owners have better quality housing than tenants? How much do tenants pay and what features do they value? This study builds a demand-side understanding of housing using survey data from over 14,000 households in 15 Kenyan cities. Kenya’s urban housing market is characterized by renting and sharing. Approximately 86 percent of residents are tenants; they outnumber owners in 14 of 15 cities. Sharing is ubiquitous—households share houses, rooms, and/or facilities such as toilets and taps. In contrast to standard notions of an “acceptable” housing unit, only 18 percent of urban Kenyans live in a self-contained unit with a toilet, kitchen, electricity, and private water connection. The market is delivering two under-studied housing categories—compounds and dormitories—explicitly designed for sharing. These house 40 percent of urban households in individual rooms, but require sharing of toilets and water connections. Rents represent a significant share of household income, but indicate low ability to achieve ownership, if viewed as monthly mortgage payments. Hedonic regression analyses reveal the relative value of house features with electricity, kitchens and number of rooms emerging as important drivers of rent. Neighborhood conditions, such as lack of flooding and perceived safety, and neighborhood level infrastructure and services, such as garbage collection and access to transport, also have positive impacts upon rents. Our analysis urges a rethinking of housing policies, including reevaluation of what type of housing is deemed acceptable and affordable for very low income urban residents. It underscores the need to develop more and better-quality rental housing and calls for a reassessment of housing and infrastructure investment programs, as well as more creative approaches for expanding home ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Airbnb has contributed to the rise in rents and house prices in European cities. • Airbnb's effects on rents and house prices are mainly concentrated in city centers. • No alleviating effects of recent home-sharing regulations could be documented. A heated debate has emerged drawing a connection between housing affordability and home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb. Despite first regulatory efforts by municipalities, the impact on rents and house prices has been examined insufficiently in scientific literature, especially with regards to Europe. Therefore, this paper addresses this gap by analyzing data on Airbnb listings for 25 European cities between 2010 and 2019. Using fixed effects and dynamic panel regressions, we show that home-sharing has significantly contributed to a rise in rents and house prices in European cities. While these effects are mainly concentrated in city centers, we also document effects in other urban districts. Finally, recent home-sharing regulations are not associated significantly with housing affordability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of the sharing economy has received increasing attention from economists. Some researchers have examined how these new business models shape market mechanisms and, in the case of home sharing, economists have examined how the sharing economy affects the hotel industry. There is currently limited evidence on whether home sharing affects the housing market, despite the obvious overlap between these two markets. As a result, policy makers grappling with the effects of the rapid growth of home sharing have inadequate information on which to make reasoned policy decisions. In this paper, we add to the small but growing body of knowledge on how the sharing economy is shaping the housing market by focusing on the short-term effects of the growth of Airbnb in Boston neighborhoods on the rental market, relying on individual rental listings. We examine whether the increasing presence of Airbnb raises asking rents and whether the change in rents may be driven by a decline in the supply of housing offered for rent. We show that a one standard deviation increase in Airbnb listings is associated with an increase in asking rents of 0.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic induced an increase in both the amount of time that households spend at home and the share of expenditures allocated to at-home consumption. These changes coincided with a period of rapidly rising house prices. We interpret these facts as the result of stay-at-home shocks that increase demand for goods consumed at home as well as the homes that those goods are consumed in. We first test the hypothesis empirically using US cross-county panel data and instrumental variables regressions. We find that counties where households spent more time at home experienced faster increases in house prices. We then study various pandemic shocks using a heterogeneous agent model with general equilibrium in housing markets. Stay-at-home shocks explain around half of the increase in model house prices in 2020. Lower mortgage rates explain around one third of the price rise, while unemployment shocks and fiscal stimulus have relatively small effects on house prices. We find that young households and first-time home buyers account for much of the increase in housing demand during the pandemic, but they are largely crowded out of the housing market by the equilibrium rise in house prices. • The COVID-19 pandemic increased time spent at home and consumption of at-home goods. • The COVID-19 pandemic also saw a rapid increase in house prices. • Strong empirical correlation between time/consumption at home and house prices. • We build a heterogeneous agent model of the housing market to study pandemic shocks. • Stay-at-home shocks explain almost half of the increase in house prices in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem, research strategy, and findings:The online accommodation platform Airbnb has expanded globally, raising substantial planning and regulatory concerns. We ask whether Airbnb rentals generate significant neighborhood impacts like noise, congestion, and competition for parking; reduce the permanent rental housing supply and increase rental prices; or provide income opportunities that help “hosts” afford their own housing. We focus on Sydney, the largest region in Australia with 4.4 million people in 28 individual municipalities, which has experienced both rapidly rising housing costs and exponential growth in Airbnb listings since 2011. Airbnb’s growth has raised concerns serious enough to result in a formal Parliamentary Inquiry by the state of New South Wales. We analyze stakeholder submissions to this inquiry and review local planning regulations, Airbnb listings data, and housing market and census statistics. We find that online homesharing platforms for visitor accommodations blur traditional boundaries between residential and tourist areas so Airbnb listings may fall outside of existing land use regulations or evade detection until neighbors complain. Our findings are constrained by the difficulties of monitoring online operations and the rapid changes in the industry. Takeaway for practice:Planners and policymakers in cities with increasing numbers of Airbnb rentals need to review how well local planning controls manage the neighborhood nuisances, traffic, and parking problems that may be associated with them while acting to protect the permanent rental housing supply. Local planners need to ensure that zoning and residential development controls distinguish between different forms of short-term Airbnb accommodation listings and their potential impacts on neighborhoods and housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We conducted a correspondence test to identify the determinants and extent of ethnic discrimination in the market for shared housing in Germany. We establish a link between information about an applicant's personality and her performance in the housing market. About 2,000 fictitious applications with randomly assigned German-, or Turkish-sounding, female or male names, with or without additional personality information were sent to vacant room ads. While the callback rate for German-sounding names is 52 percent, it drops to 37 percent for Turkish-sounding names. Female applicants receive significantly more callbacks than their male counterparts. Additional personality information is particularly beneficial to the group with the highest callback rate (German females) and the group with the lowest callback rate (Turkish males). Thus, personality information reduce the ethnic gap between Turkish and German males, whereas the gap among females increases. A simple theoretical model shows that the strong effect of information on German females can be explained by aggregation over rooms that differ in market tightness. Moreover, advertisers who only accept applications of one particular gender discriminate significantly more against Turkish applicants. • In the market for shared housing, minority and male applicants receive less callbacks. • Information matters: More personality information rises callback rates. • Personality information is especially beneficial for majority females and minority males. • Personality information reduces the racial gap for males, while it increases for females. • Theory shows effect on females is driven by aggregation over varying market tightness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well documented that there exists ethnic discrimination in the regular housing market in European and US cities. However, the existing literature has so far neglected the informal market for shared housing. We use a field experiment to investigate ethnic discrimination in this market. We sent fictitious enquiries with a randomly assigned name signalling a British, Eastern European, Indian, African or Arabic/Muslim background to more than 5000 room advertisers in the Greater London Area. Our main finding is that ethnic discrimination is widespread. We also find that the degree of discrimination depends on the applicant's occupation and the ethnic residential concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]