One room only: the role of marginal housing tenure in residential mobility among low-income households

This article examines the relationship between marginal housing tenure and residential mobility among low-income households. Housing tenure has been found to be significantly associated with mobility, with tenancy increasing chances of moving more than homeownership. However, little attention has been devoted to the role of different tenure sub-types such as marginal housing, which comprises rooming houses, hostels and similar less secure arrangements where low-income households often live. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the extent to which owner-occupied, conventional rental, and marginal rental housing are associated with residential mobility in the low-income population. Based on a cross-sectional survey of residents of Czech disadvantaged neighbourhoods, where low-income households are concentrated, the study uses binary logistic regression to determine which factors predict residential mobility in this population in the last 12 months. The results show that living in marginal rental housing (hostel) is strongly associated with residential mobility after controlling for other factors.