Rental hosusing in turkey: demand and tenancy attributes of Ankara case

Housing is a multi-dimensional phenomenon with its social, economic and physical aspects. The housing market necessitates the government interference, and also differs from other markets as a housing unit, both as consumption and a production good, cannot be substituted by another good. Housing markets are segmented through home occupancy and rental housing markets. Therefore, rental housing market is a significant component of housing market. The aim of this thesis is to understand the demand for rental housing and tenancy attribute through the case of Ankara Metropolitan and to develop strategies and policies for rental housing market. In this framework, the supply diversity set in by legislative and planning tools and how this supply directed the demand are discussed through the world and Turkish literature. It is aimed to investigate the diversity of tenants, the mobility of households, the spatial characteristics of the rental housing stock and the diversity of the rental housing supply with the households surveys carried out in Ankara. The findings of the survey reveal that the rental housing is preferred by different income groups for different reasons, which can be grouped under three headings. Considering the evidences of the case study, rental housing tenancy is preferred "temporarily" by the younger households and students who benefit from educational and employment facilities of the city. On the other hand, second group of households are those which have the opportunity to purchase a house, but prefer to live as a tenant until they shift to homeownership. These households may be considered as "semi-permanent tenant" in this stage. However, the third group of rental housing is an "obligatory and persistent" for low income group who do not have the opportunity to purchase a house as the lack of wealth accumulation in existing market conditions. Additionally, rental housing may be thought as a more flexible housing tenure compared to the home occupancy. All these characteristics of rental housing present the dynamic, essential and indispensable characteristics of the rental housing, especially in the metropolitan areas. However, the policies generally encourage homeownership, and also the legislations and regulations on rental housing are inadequate. For a sustainable housing and rental housing market, supply and demand oriented policies and strategies should be developed. In this context, rental housing production and regulative instruments should be created for all income groups. Policies on housing finance and rent regulations should provide the necessity conditions for a well functional property and rental housing market.