Real Estate & Planning Research Seminar by Heidi Falkenbach, Aalto University. Title: "Public Housing, Rent Savings and Tenant Mobility"

Abstract: We analyze whether tenants in rent-controlled public housing move less often than free market tenants, and whether mobility differences among pub[1]lic housing tenants are related to the size of the rent savings in public housing. We do so by linking high quality microlevel data on the rental market with population-wide register data on households. Our hedonic regression esti[1]mates show that public housing tenants in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) benefit from substantial rent savings, some 335 euros per month or 30% of market rent on average. These rents savings vary by location and are highest in the most expensive parts of the HMA. Public housing tenants are less mobile than tenants in the free rental market and public housing tenants with larger rent savings are less mobile than tenants with smaller rent savings after controlling for socioeconomic background.

Bio: Dr Heidi Falkenbach is Associate Professor of Real Estate Economics at Aalto University, where she also holds the roles of Head of Real Estate Research Group and Director of the Master’s Programme in Real Estate Economics. Her research covers a broad spectrum of research topics, including real estate finance, housing economics, and land use policy. She has led several research projects in these areas, funded by, i.a., Research Council of Finland, the Strategic Research Council of Finland, the Prime Minister’s Council, and Business Finland. Beyond academia, Falkenbach is actively involved in various industry collaborations, providing insights that bridge theoretical frameworks with practical applications in real estate industry and policy-making.