Structural change in the inner city housing stock of St. John's, Newfoundland

• Main Author: Benson, Michael A.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1984
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7813/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7813/5/PDF_fix_carol_edited.pdf

In general, the objective of the current study is to measure in a temporal context the magnitude, type and location of structural change in the inner city housing stock of St. John's, Newfoundland. The principal focus is on the standing stock of residential dwellings and the process of structural change occasioned by a highly speculative and uncertain urban environment. Although the primary concern is an empirical analysis of spatial variations in structural maintenance and repair activity and stock deletions, the study also examines specifically the responsive nature of the stock to changes in home ownership and type of ownership and assesses the impact of one particular public welfare policy, housing code enforcement, upon the supply state of the active inventory. -- The study reveals several important things. First, 26.5% of the inner city housing stock experienced some form of structural reinvestment between 1980 and 1982, 70.6% of the stock remained unchanged while 2.9% of the stock were physically removed. Of the dwellings that did experience reinvestment, 76.1% were upgraded by incumbent owners. The value of incumbent upgrading as a percent of the total value of all maintenance and repair activity measured 45.2%, nearly half of the total amount spent on structural reinvestment throughout the study area. The value of maintenance and repair resulting from ownership transaction was seen to vary according to the particular type of transaction involved. Transactions involving the purchase of residential properties by resident owners from non-resident corporate owners accounted for 14.3% of the total value of maintenance and repair generated by ownership change. Ownership transactions involving the replacement of resident owned dwellings by non-resident owners resulted in 8.6% of the total value of maintenance and repair activity while transactions from resident owners to different resident owners brought with them 8.5% of the total value of residential reinvestment. -- Throughout the study area, though, 39.4% ...