Does Owner-Occupied Housing Affect Neighbourhood Crime?

Abstract

Economic as well as sociological theory bring some support to the hypothesis that personal home ownership per se makes individuals more responsible to society values and hence less inclined to commit offences against property or commit other kinds of crimes. Departing from this hypothesis, the present study seeks to provide empirical evidence for a link between levels of crime and local residential ownership rates. In the framework of a linear regression model and based on Danish municipality data, we establish empirical evidence for a negative relationship between local home ownership rates and local crime rates even when controlling for a broad range of economic and demographic variables.

Keywords: housing market, violence crime, simple crime, neighbourhood deprivation

JEL Classification: C21, C23, C33, K42, P25, R31