Evaluating Tenure Mix Interventions: A Case Study from Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Policies of tenure mix, by removing concentrations of social housing or through the application of inclusionary zoning-type powers to new developments, are being pursued throughout Australia and in the USA, the UK and New Zealand. Implementing this tenure mix policy agenda requires significant intervention into urban areas that currently have concentrations of social housing, through programmes of regeneration or renewal. Despite this policy agenda, research on the benefits of tenure mix has produced inconclusive evidence, both in Australia and internationally. The paper reports on research undertaken in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which tests a method of evaluating tenure mix policy. The exploratory method uses dwelling price data as a proxy for measuring amenity or ‘neighbourhood quality’ changes from tenure mix interventions.