Land Use Regulations, Housing Supply, and County Eviction Filings

Abstract

The eviction crisis has attracted significant scholarly attention, but less is known about the links between evictions and policies that promote or impede housing supply. This research uses data from a large time-series, cross-sectional sample of U.S. counties to address this research gap. The results from several linear regression models suggest that restrictive land use regulations increase eviction filing rates, whereas elastic housing supply and inclusionary zoning reduce eviction filing rates. Controls for housing supply constraints also reduce the effect of median rents on eviction filings. Pro-renter state landlord–tenant laws have no effect on eviction filing rates.