Comparative analysis of MCDM methods for the assessment of sustainable housing affordability

While affordability is traditionally assessed in economic terms, this paper tests a new assessment method that draws closer links with sustainability by considering economic, social and environmental criteria that impact on a household’s quality of life. The paper presents an empirical application and comparison of six different multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches for the purpose of assessing sustainable housing affordability. The comparative performance of the weighted product model (WPM), the weighted sum model (WSM), the revised AHP, TOPSIS and COPRAS, is investigated. The purpose of the comparative analysis is to determine how different MCDM methods compare when used for a sustainable housing affordability assessment model. 20 Evaluative criteria and 10 alternative are as in Liverpool, England, were considered. The applicability of different MCDM methods for the focused decision problem was investigated. The paper discusses the similarities in MCDM methods, evaluates their robustness and contrasts the resulting rankings. •Paper presents the application of WPM, WSM, the revised AHP, TOPSIS, COPRAS multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods for assessing sustainable housing affordability.•Twenty evaluative criteria used in the analysis.•Comparison of different MCDM methods performed.•Sensitivity analysis used to identify how alternative ranking results are affected by change in criteria weight.