NIMBY attitudes towards housing densification: differences in the perception between residents in market and affordable housing

This paper explores the reasons behind “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) attitudes with respect to the construction of new affordable housing in a neighbourhood. It adds to the existing knowledge about factors shaping the NIMBY attitudes (Matthews et al. 2014; Nguyen et al. 2013) by testing whether and to what extent, the housing status influences the individuals’ perception of (potential) impacts of new affordable housing on a neighbourhood. To address this goal, we use affordable housing survey data collected in Luxembourg in 2023. The novelty of this study is twofold. First, we define the housing status as a combination of a housing tenure (owner or tenant) and a mode of housing production (publically subsidized or market housing). Luxembourg offers affordable dwellings for rent but also affordable housing for sale. In this way, we add to the scholarship that typically compares the views only across tenure groups (owners versus tenants). Second novelty lies in adopting a comprehensive approach to the effects of new AH on neighbourhood by testing the perception of seven possible outcomes while previous studies typically focus on one specific, e.g. the change in house price (Voith et al. 2022; Ellen et al. 2007), or some stereotypical images of troublesome (social) tenants (e.g. Juvenius 2024).