View Research by Author - Lisa A. Lee

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/LisaALee

[© Urban Studies] The implementation of housing allowances is an integral part of Russia's programme of systematic rent increases on state and municipal rental units which began in 1994. Because housing allowances constitute the country's first income-tested programme, its performance transcends the housing sector. This paper reports the results of an initial assessment of the programme in two cities. The assessment focuses on the extent to which income-eligible households know about the programme, their participation rates and their experience in becoming recipients.

This report describes the evolution in maintenance of municipal housing stock in Moscow and provides an overview of competitive maintenance and condominium formation in other Russian cities. The experience of these cities, particularly Moscow, is of general interest because it highlights the types of problems that must be overcome in nearly all the countries of the former Soviet bloc.

This paper examines households' economic and housing characteristics during the transition period in Moscow, Russia; the data can serve to estimate and predict the implications of housing-related reforms. Topics discussed are rent payments, household income, and assets; residential mobility; and housing adjustments and privatization. Also discussed are the disparity in incomes between the richest and poorest income groups, the ratios of rent-to-income, and the shift in sources of household income from the state to the private sector.

This paper explores aspects of the evolving pattern of residential mobility in Moscow for the period 1992-1994. A three-year longitudinal survey of about 2,200 dwelling units served as a data source. It tested the hypothesis that the burst in mobility rates between 1992 and 1993 was not a one-time phenomenon; examines the composition of movers; tests the hypothesis that mobility is concentrated among "market movers"; explores the change in housing conditions achieved by relocating; and estimates simple models of the probability of moving on a market basis or of obtaining housing through waiting list procedures.

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