Affordable housing policies in a post-COVID aftermath

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the outcomes of a suite of affordability policies in Auckland, New Zealand, in the face of a post-COVID aftermath. Improving the access to homeownership while preserving the competitive nature of the housing market will remain a critical goal for New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a spatially delineated one-to-one matching model to assess affordable housing policies such as the targeting of houses to target population groups, a shared ownership/equity scheme and the cascading (or release) of the developed affordable houses into the broader market. Findings Results show that a targeting programme with an income threshold set between $120,000 and $150,000 maximises house sales, but a threshold set at $96,000 maximises the number of moderate-income households becoming homeowners. Several parameterisations of the model demonstrate the potential contradictions (or overlaps) between policy goals. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is a deeper understanding of the market outcomes of affordability policies, and inputs to design strategies that balance market efficiency and fairness. Also, this paper shows that stronger integration across governments (central and local) and actors of the housing market.

Sorting (and costing) the way out of the housing affordability crisis in Auckland, New Zealand

“…From each intersection those households with the seven highest incomes are selected and are assumed as those with the greatest likelihood to buy a dwelling (strongest preferences and highest incomes), resulting in 13,632 households. This figure is higher than Fernandez and Martin (2021) and Fernandez and Martin (2020) (about 9,000 households). Improvements in the code allow better and more efficient use of memory while keeping tractability.…”

“…Nonetheless, the shift to p ’ may not suffice to induce a great overlap with households’ incomes. Therefore, a direct subsidy to households in the form of an SO program may raise their chances to become homeowners without necessarily compromising the competitive nature of the housing market (Fernandez and Martin, 2021; Cowan et al , 2018). This is represented as a shift on the distribution of incomes to I ’.…”

“…To model relocation alternatives, 12 submarkets are constructed based on Gaussian mixture (GMM) clustering and sales data for transactions between 2011 and 2019 (Figure 3). The two main differences relative to Fernandez and Martin (2021) and Fernandez and Martin (2020) are as follows:…”

“…For example, Fernandez et al (2021a) and Murphy (2016) discuss that the Special Housing Areas program in Auckland may have achieved greater market outcomes had it been supplemented with a mandatory requirement or a staging process for the delivery of housing. Murray (2020), Fingleton et al (2019) and Fernandez (2019a) argue that land releases, through higher density provision or rezoning, may not guarantee the delivery of affordable housing unless complementary programs (e.g. progressive homeownership schemes) are implemented to close the gap between housing prices and households’ incomes.…”

Housing Policy: An Analysis of Public Housing Policy Strategies for Low-Income Earners in Nigeria

“…A great amount of research has been conducted on housing policy globally that has addressed the motivation and dynamics of housing policies, affordable housing policy frameworks, policy implementation and state policy models [45,[67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74]. For, example, Fernandez and Martin [74] examined the effectiveness of affordable housing policy in Auckland, New Zealand by assessing the outcomes of a set of affordability policies to gain an idea of how much affordable housing these policies can deliver. The study established that the numerous parameterisations of the model demonstrate potential contradictions between policy goals.…”