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Empty homes, longer commutes: the unintended consequences of more restrictive local planning

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  • Cheshire, Paul
  • Hilber, Christian A. L.
  • Koster, Hans R.A.
Abstract
We investigate the impact of land use regulation on housing vacancy rates. Using a 30-year panel dataset on land use regulation for 350 English Local Authorities (LAs) and addressing potential reverse causation and other endogeneity concerns, we find that tighter local planning constraints increase local housing vacancy rates: a one standard deviation increase in restrictiveness causes the local vacancy rate to increase by 0.9 percentage points (23%). The same increase in local restrictiveness also causes a 6.1% rise in commuting distances. The results underline the interdependence of local housing and labour markets and the unintended adverse impact of more restrictive planning policies

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  • Cheshire, Paul & Hilber, Christian A. L. & Koster, Hans R.A., 2018. "Empty homes, longer commutes: the unintended consequences of more restrictive local planning," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86441, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:86441
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    2. Achim Ahrens & Sean Lyons, 2021. "Do rising rents lead to longer commutes? A gravity model of commuting flows in Ireland," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(2), pages 264-279, February.
    3. Hans R A Koster, 2024. "The Welfare Effects of Greenbelt Policy: Evidence from England," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 363-401.
    4. Paul Cheshire, 2018. "Broken Market or Broken Policy? The Unintended Consequences of Restrictive Planning," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 245(1), pages 9-19, August.
    5. Gerard H Dericks & Hans R A Koster, 2021. "The billion pound drop: the Blitz and agglomeration economies in London [The economics of density: evidence from the Berlin wall]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 869-897.
    6. Ross Kendall & Peter Tulip, 2018. "The Effect of Zoning on Housing Prices," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2018-03, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    7. Evelyn Blumenberg & Fariba Siddiq, 2023. "Commute distance and jobs-housing fit," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 869-891, June.
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    9. Gandhi, Sahil & Green, Richard K. & Patranabis, Shaonlee, 2022. "Insecure property rights and the housing market: Explaining India’s housing vacancy paradox," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Alexis Poulhès & Angèle Brachet, 2021. "Does Revitalizing the Center of Mid-Sized French Cities Reduce GHG Emissions from Commuting?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Ehrlich, Maximilian V. & Hilber, Christian A.L. & Schöni, Olivier, 2018. "Institutional settings and urban sprawl: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 4-18.
    12. Hangtian Xu, 2023. "Commercial‐to‐residential land‐use conversion and residential recentralization in large cities," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(1), pages 306-338, February.
    13. Albert Solé-Ollé & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal & José Mª Durán-Cabré & Thomas Davidoff & Mariona Segú, 2018. "Tourism and Gentrification in Global Cities: Could Fiscal Policy be Useful? / Turismo y gentrificación en ciudades globales: ¿podría ser útil la política fiscal? / Turisme i gentrificació en ciutats g," IEB Reports ieb_report_2_2018, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    14. Kohei Kawai & Masatomo Suzuki & Chihiro Shimizu, 2019. "Shrinkage in Tokyo’s Central Business District: Large-Scale Redevelopment in the Spatially Shrinking Office Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, May.
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    JEL classification:

    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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