Home Ownership and Access to Opportunity

Low-income Homeownership: American Dream or Delusion?

“…Central cities typically have poorer quality schools and services than suburban locations. Therefore, buying homes in central-city neighbourhoods may not be the best mechanism for providing low-income families with greater access to economic opportunities and upward social mobility (Rohe et al, 2002a). A study of first-time, low-income homebuyers within two heavily subsidised Nehemiah complexes indicated that, although families gained better housing conditions, their new neighbourhoods had poorer schools and higher crime rates than their previous ones (Cummings et al, 2002).…”

“…It is also expected to provide families with more opportunities (Rohe et al, 2002a). For adults, expected social changes include greater life satisfaction, increased participation in voluntary civic organisations and improved physical and psychological health .…”

“…Lowincome homeowners are expected to vote more than renters and to be more politically engaged and aware. Low-income homeownership is projected to affect positively the local tax base and to spur local population growth (Rohe et al, 2002a).…”

Why housing wealth and welfare?

“…More contemporary thinkers have argued, for better or for worse, that home buyers become stronger stakeholders and are therefore likely to be more politically conservative (Saunders, 1990) and resistant to taxation and welfare state spending (Kemeny, 1981). On the other hand, a considerable amount of literature has celebrated the influence of home ownership and how it sharpens autonomy and shapes individual traits (see Rohe et al, 2002). Empirical research concerning the social or political 'effects' of tenure on owner-occupiers, however, has been plagued by normative biases and weak empirical designs, rendering it difficult to disentangle causation from selection (Dietz and Haurin, 2003;Zavisca and Gerber, 2016).…”

Houses and/or Jobs: Ownership and the Labour Market in Belgian Districts

“…Moreover, ownership generates significant social benefits. Owners are more likely to have long residence spells, which contributes to local neighbourhood stability and to the accumulation of social capital (DiPasquale and Glaeser, 1999;Rohe et al, 2002;Dietz and Haurin, 2003;Engelhardt et al, 2010). Renters do not bring about the same returns due to their higher degree of geographical mobility.…”