Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Limited access to quality and affordable housing is considered to negatively affect individual and social wellbeing, such as health, education and skills, or labor market participation. Households with high housing cost burden may reduce investment in health, nutrition or heating in the short term. In the longer term, they may have to choose lower quality housing and move to poorer areas, increasing the risk of social exclusion. Thus, housing policy should also be considered as a key tool to address current and future social inclusion challenges.

This study consists of a scoping review of the evidence on the relationship between different housing policies and wellbeing and a systematic review of the literature found. The scoping review revealed that most of the evidence refers to rent subsidies under the American Section 8 program, while there is a gap of evidence on European housing programs. We synthesize the existing evidence on different housing policies (rent subsidies, social housing and policies related to building renovations and energy efficiency) and their impacts on wellbeing. The results of these study contribute to broaden the knowledge base of housing policy effectiveness to reduce social exclusion.