A Study on the Determinants of Residential Rental and the Minority Tenants in Taipei’s Metropolitan Area

The skyrocketing price has led housing to be unaffordable that young citizens are compelled to choose to rent over purchasing houses. The concentration of job opportunities in cities further enhances the demands for rental housing that in turns drives the rental level upwards. The elevated rent incentivizes young citizens to live in illegal rooftop extensions or partitioned small units in an inferior and hazardous environment. The problems of unaffordable housing have attracted attention from media and the government. In response, the government has augmented the supply of social housing and enacted Rental Housing Market Development and Regulation Act. However, there is a controversy over social housing being rent too high and furniture equipped inside unfit.Previous studies have examined the housing rent or residential rental markets. In comparison with the home sales market, however, the rental sector warrants more attention. Based on the state-maintained registration of real estate transactions and rental, and other rental housing listings websites operated by the private sector, this study intends to address three questions: determinants of Taipei's metropolitan housing rental, the spatial distribution of minority tenants and affordability of rental housing. As a whole, this study aims to clarify the housing demands of various tenant groups and problems associated with their living environment. The research findings are hoped to improve the housing policies and alleviate the housing difficulties encountered by the minority groups in the housing sectors.