Residential Satisfaction of Military Households in Privatized Apartment Communities

Abstract

The academic community has not extensively researched residential satisfaction of military households possibly because of the uniformity of housing options offered within a military base environment. The recent passage of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) is the latest in a series of Congressional initiatives to improve housing options for the U.S. armed forces. Improvements in job performance and enlistment retention are listed as potential positive spillover effects. With the passage of MHPI, families of soldiers, particularly junior officers, experience more freedom in gaining access to market rental housing. This research examines the resultsfrom a widespread survey administered by one of the military branches. The overall survey results indicate that military personnel living in privatized housing communities did not have a higher overall satisfaction compared to those living in non-privatized housing. An analysis of military households reactions toward residential environment characteristics showed that these households differ somewhat from traditional households. One characteristic, quality of property management staff, was found to be a significant driver of residential satisfaction among military families, consistent with previous findings in other renter populations. The paper concludes with possible reasons for these differences in terms of drivers of residential satisfaction.