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Relative housing space inequality in England and Wales, and its recent rapid resurgence

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  • Becky Tunstall

Abstract

Low consumption of housing and housing inequality has generally been measured through absolute rather than relative standards. This paper develops a relative measure of housing space consumption and applies it to England and Wales for 1911–2011. Over this period, the population grew by half, but the number of rooms tripled. The rate of low absolute housing consumption (overcrowding) fell from 49% to 4%. However, using the Gini coefficient, inequality in housing space was almost unchanged. Using inequality definitions more sensitive to the bottom of the distribution, the century splits into two parts. Housing space inequality reduced steadily from the 1920s to the 1980s, but then the trend reversed, and by 2011 inequality had returned to levels not seen for fifty years or more. This rise in housing space inequality warrants attention. Possible explanations include increased income inequality, a reduction in social housing, the rise of one person households, and development of larger homes.

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  • Becky Tunstall, 2015. "Relative housing space inequality in England and Wales, and its recent rapid resurgence," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 105-126, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:intjhp:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:105-126
    DOI: 10.1080/14616718.2014.984826
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    Cited by:

    1. Rebecca Tunstall, 2023. "An empirical test of measures of housing degrowth: Learning from the limited experience of England and Wales, 1981–2011," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(7), pages 1285-1303, May.
    2. Pritam Ghosh & Asraful Alam & Nilanjana Ghosal & Debodatta Saha, 2021. "A Geospatial Analysis of Temporary Housing Inequality among Socially Marginalized and Privileged Groups in India," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 798-819, June.
    3. Nick Gallent & Dan Durrant & Neil May, 2017. "Housing supply, investment demand and money creation: A comment on the drivers of London’s housing crisis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(10), pages 2204-2216, August.
    4. Manea, Roxana Elena & Piraino, Patrizio & Viarengo, Martina, 2023. "Crime, inequality and subsidized housing: Evidence from South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Richard A. Sharpe & Tim Taylor & Lora E. Fleming & Karyn Morrissey & George Morris & Rachel Wigglesworth, 2018. "Making the Case for “Whole System” Approaches: Integrating Public Health and Housing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Rebecca Tunstall, 2020. "Is Housing Growth Ever Inclusive Growth? Evidence from Three Decades of Housing Development in England and Wales, 1981–2011," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 16-27.
    7. zu Ermgassen, Sophus & Drewniok, Michal & Bull, Joseph & Walker, Christine Corlet & Mancini, Mattia & Ryan-Collins, Josh & Serrenho, André Cabrera, 2022. "A home for all within planetary boundaries: pathways for meeting England’s housing needs without transgressing national climate and biodiversity goals," OSF Preprints 5kxce, Center for Open Science.
    8. Jane Zavisca & Theodore Gerber & Hyungjun Suh, 2021. "Housing Status in Post-Soviet Contexts: A Multi-dimensional Measurement Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 609-634, January.
    9. Peter Bibby & John Henneberry & Jean-Marie Halleux, 2021. "Incremental residential densification and urban spatial justice: The case of England between 2001 and 2011," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(10), pages 2117-2138, August.
    10. Gough, Ian & Horn, Stefan & Rogers, Charlotte & Tunstall, Rebecca, 2024. "Fair decarbonisation of housing in the UK: a sufficiency approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122477, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Rory Coulter & Michael Thomas, 2019. "A new look at the housing antecedents of separation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(26), pages 725-760.
    12. Shukui Tan & Siliang Wang & Conghui Cheng, 2016. "Change of Housing Inequality in Urban China and Its Decomposition: 1989–2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 29-45, October.
    13. zu Ermgassen, Sophus O.S.E. & Drewniok, Michal P. & Bull, Joseph W. & Corlet Walker, Christine M. & Mancini, Mattia & Ryan-Collins, Josh & Cabrera Serrenho, André, 2022. "A home for all within planetary boundaries: Pathways for meeting England's housing needs without transgressing national climate and biodiversity goals," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).

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