This project investigates how housing conditions experienced during adolescence shape outcomes later in life. While a large body of research has examined neighbourhood effects, we still know surprisingly little about the role of the dwelling itself. Issues such as overcrowding, damp, poor insulation, and inadequate housing quality remain common in the UK and are particularly prevalent among disadvantaged households.
Together with Shizhen Wang (UCL), Maggie (Yiqi) Huang (Shenzhen MSU-BIT University), and Hou Ce (HKUST), I use longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to examine whether growing up in poor-quality housing affects educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and health later in life. The project also considers the role of major housing policy interventions, such as the Decent Homes Standard, to better understand whether improvements in housing quality can enhance opportunity and social mobility.
By linking housing conditions during adolescence to later-life outcomes, the project aims to provide new evidence on the long-term consequences of housing quality and contribute to policy debates on housing, inequality, and social mobility.
Climate change is expected to alter housing markets through increasing exposure to risks such as flooding, overheating, and other climate-related hazards. At the same time, some homes are better equipped to cope with these risks than others. This project examines whether housing markets increasingly recognise and value climate-resilient housing characteristics.
Working with Desmond Tsang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Shizhen Wang (UCL), and Yuxin Chen (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), I combine detailed information on housing characteristics, climate conditions, and property transactions across England and Wales. The project investigates whether housing quality influences the economic consequences of climate risk and whether climate-resilient housing features command higher prices or experience smaller discounts in areas facing greater environmental risks.
The project contributes to a growing literature on climate adaptation and housing markets and seeks to provide evidence that can inform housing policy, energy-efficiency programmes, and strategies to reduce household vulnerability to climate change.