Telework and residential location: Evidence from a stated-preference experiment in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

The surge in teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified debates on whether it reshapes residential preferences in ways that may enable suburbanisation. This paper examines how telework affects residential location preferences in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area using a stated-preference experiment combined with attitudinal constructs estimated through a Hybrid Choice Model (HCM). The analysis relies on a sample of 642 dual-earner households actively considering relocation, allowing stated choices to reflect realistic decision-making contexts. Results indicate no uniform decentralisation tendency. Dual-teleworker households with higher income and a stronger central-living preference favour central apartments, consistent with amenity access remaining valued even as commuting constraints loosen. Suburban apartments show higher utility among younger teleworkers and among those who do not seek to increase telework, consistent with an affordability-oriented apartment option still close to the centre/office hubs. Suburban houses show a higher utility among households with teenagers, conditional on the possibility of high-intensity teleworking (more than 3 days/week or 10 days/month). The utility of village/small-town houses increases with age for households where the respondent teleworks while the partner does not, and aligns closely with a quietness-oriented preference, suggesting that telework can bring forward a residential option that would otherwise be considered only at later life-course stages. Overall, by relaxing workplace proximity constraints, telework may enable households to act upon pre-existing preferences, suggesting planning responses that expand housing supply in accessible locations to reduce incentives for outward relocation.