Measuring the housing precarity of migrant private tenants and assessing its impact on their life satisfaction - evidence from Guangzhou, China

Private renting is generally considered to be the most precarious tenure. Migrants are generally seen as the disadvantaged cohorts in destination cities. However, to the best of our knowledge, few studies have constructed the Housing Precarity Index (HPI) and assessed its effect on the life satisfaction of migrant private renters. Here, using data from China as an exploratory case, this study develops a novel measure of housing precarity based on the 2019 Guangzhou Migrant Housing Survey dataset. This study combines five dwelling-based aspects of precarity: perceived tenure security, housing affordability, housing quality, access to public services, and commuting. This study observes a negative association between housing precarity and life satisfaction among migrant private renters. Moreover, spatial heterogeneity could act as a moderating variable, strengthening the negative association between housing precarity and life satisfaction. This study advances the importance of considering the housing precarity concept in understanding the life satisfaction of migrant private renters. More importantly, this study wants to amplify the voices of migrant workers in the private rented sector, as they are the most likely to suffer from housing precarity in destination cities but are not salient in academic and policy debates on housing.