Energy-related deprivation and housing tenure transitions

Energy poverty is becoming an increasingly important policy consideration in many countries. We empirically examine the relationship between energy poverty and housing tenure in Australia using HILDA survey data over the period 2005 to 2018. We employ objective, subjective and composite measures of energy poverty and control for other respondent and household covariates. Results from our study, which are robust to a suite of checks, suggest that being energy poor has a negative impact on homeownership and “rent to own” transition, and a positive impact on “own to rent” transition. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of our study. •We examine the impact of energy poverty on housing tenure.•We use data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey.•We use objective, subjective and composite measures of energy poverty.•We find that energy poverty discourages homeownership but promotes renting.