Project Summary:

The project investigates the potential for big data to dramatically increase the evidence base for monitoring and assessing how local markets are operating. Working with major letting databases with UK coverage, the project critically assesses the scope for developing such a database and attempts to establish key indicators and to run them for specific contrasting local markets and sub-markets. This will then be assessed for usefulness by a range of potential users.

The project involves an international evidence review of what we know about the private rented sector, secondary analysis of the sector in Scotland in collaboration with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), and subsequent indicator analysis by users, planners and policy communities. The project also builds on existing data science work by the Urban Big Data Centre.

Starts: January 2018 – November 2018

Team: Professor Ken Gibb (Co-I), Professor Nick Bailey (Co-I), Dr Mark Livingston (Co-I), and Dr Gareth James (KE)

Theme: Markets

View the final reports here:

• Private Renting Reforms: how to evidence the impact of legislation
• Private renting reforms in Scotland: overview and analysis (forthcoming)