“In 2018, Fife Council decided on a policy of “no growth” to the number of  house in multiple occupation (HMO) licences in St Andrews. How does this policy affect the local rental and real estate markets?”

Our project aims to analyse the St Andrews housing market and the impact of the HMO cap policy by developing quantitative economic models and gathering primary data.

The goal of this project is to also quantitatively evaluate the impact of the HMO licence freeze on the St Andrews housing market. 

• build an economic model of the housing market 
• gather and use data to calibrate the model 
• generate predictions with and without the HMO licences freeze.  

Outcomes of interest include rent prices, student residential choice, and property values, but also studentification of the town, carbon emissions implied by different residential choices, representation of the student body, and more. 

What is a VIP?

A Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) is a research-based project undertaken by students from multidisciplinary course backgrounds and all years. The ‘vertical’ aspect involves bringing together students and supervisors; at different levels of this university, to collaborate on a project together, allowing the students to gain research experience in projects of their interest with robust mentorship and guidance.

Each team dynamic differs depending on the nature of the area of research but all teams are involved in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of the project. This helps to ensure that the project is comprehensive, well-coordinated, and effective in terms of skills gained and research produced. 

HMO Project Supervisors

Luc Bridet: [email protected]

Sumedh Dalwai: [email protected]