Colin Jones & Craig Watkins 
Housing Markets and Planning Policy 

Housing systems in many countries are now more market-oriented than
ever before. This is particularly true of the UK, where there is
heightened interest in the ability of the market to deliver new
housing, as well as considerable debate among housing academics and
policy makers over the extent to which policy instruments can be
used to steer market processes. This increased market orientation
means a greater understanding of market economics is needed.

The challenges of providing affordable housing, while
simultaneously addressing the problems of low demand housing in
some areas, together with the revitalisation of neighbourhoods in
need of renewal, also underline the need for a better understanding
of the structure and operation of housing markets at local and
neighbourhood level.

This timely contribution to the field addresses the main housing
and planning policy challenges in the UK today. It does so by
examining the structure and operation of the urban housing system
and then exploring both conceptual and empirical analyses of the
workings of the market. The authors then consider the lessons for
policy makers, discussing the limitations of the policy framework
and considering the strategies for integrating market information
into the analysis undertaken in practice.

Housing Markets & Planning Policy is an invaluable
advanced text for students of land economy, land management, urban
planning, housing and urban studies. The authors provide a uniquely
detailed analysis of an important policy area that builds on a
strong theoretical basis drawn from housing economics. With the
challenges posed by the instability of the housing market, it will
be of particular interest to academic researchers, policy-makers
and housing and planning practitioners.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements.

1 Introduction.

One housing market or many housing markets?

Housing markets and planning policy.

The analytical approach.

Aims and objectives.

The structure of the book.

2 The Housing Problem.

Context.

Housing market trends.

Spatial house price trends.

Affordability.

Economics of the house building industry.

Low-demand areas.

Wider planning policy context.

Conclusions.

3 Spatial Structure of Housing Markets.

A model of an urban housing market.

The theoretical impact of planning.

Empirical evidence on the impact of planning.

Planning the housing market.

Housing market areas and processes.

Case studies of HMAs.

Implications of HMAs for planning.

Conclusions.

4 Understanding Housing Submarkets.

Origins of housing submarket studies.

Theoretical basis for housing submarkets.

Defi ning and identifying housing submarkets.

Temporal dynamics of housing submarkets.

Modelling submarket structures.

Conclusions: submarkets as an analytical framework.

5 Dynamics of the Housing Market.

Choices and constraints.

Migration and spatial house price trends.

New house building, urban form and local housing.

market dynamics.

Intra-urban housing market dynamics.

Neighbourhood dynamics.

Neighbourhood succession.

Neighbourhood revitalisation.

Conclusions.

6 Planning for the Housing Market.

Spatial change, planning and housing.

The evolution of planning for housing markets.

Current practice in planning for housing.

The operation of the planning system.

Reconciling the evidence: broader political and policy
concerns.

Conclusions.

7 Planning Policies and the Market.

Planning policies and the market.

The changing housing policy context.

Provision of affordable housing.

Encouraging social mix.

Sustainable development.

Conclusions.

8 Conclusions and the Way Forward.

Current and future housing market context.

The contemporary policy agenda and the housing challenge.

Towards a framework for housing analysis.

Reshaping the system of planning for housing.

Local housing market analysis and panning practice.

The challenge to planning and the way forward.

References.

Index.

About the author

Colin Jones is Professor of Estate Management, School of the Built
Environment at Heriot-Watt University. He has published widely on
spatial property markets, urban regeneration and the economics of
housing policy.



Dr Craig Watkins is a Reader in the Department of Town and
Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research
interests include housing economics and policy, urban regeneration
and the analysis of commercial property markets.