Choice-based Letting, Ethnicity and Segregation in England

Choice-based letting (CBL) has been widely introduced to the social housing sector in England to give applicants more freedom in where they live. Concerns have been expressed that giving people more choice in residential locations has the potential to increase neighbourhood segregation. It has also been argued that a lack of real choice, not self-segregation, might be a cause of social and ethnic segregation. In social housing, real choice might not be available and the most vulnerable are likely to access the easiest housing options: often in deprived and segregated neighbourhoods. This paper analyses the probability that households applying for social housing using different allocation systems end up in deprived or ethnically concentrated neighbourhoods. Using unique data representing lettings made in the social housing sector in England, it is shown that ethnic minorities, and especially those using CBL, are the most likely to end up in deprived and ethnic concentration neighbourhoods.