Home owners, home renovation and residential mobility

Contemporary studies into residential mobility focus on mover households, b ut pay little attention to households that do not move. Conceptually, it is assumed that households make a voluntary decision to move when their curre nt residence no longer meets their needs. This argument does not however ac count for households who, in the face of residential dissatisfaction, renov ate or undertake alterations to better satisfy their needs. This paper pres ents data for Adelaide, South Australia to look at the extent to which owne rs renovate their homes. The analysis identifies two groups of renovators-n on-mover renovators and mover renovators. Using data from the Housing and L ocation Preference Survey, an analysis is presented which discusses the fac tors which may influence renovation activity of these two groups.