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High numbers of housing backlogs as well as inadequate housing for low-income are one of the Indonesian government’s major concerns, especially in urban areas where the price of house is high. This study aims to identify low-income communities’ preferences on house ownership status, renting or buying and house provider, public or private, in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

This study adapts Longley multistage choice model in the Indonesian context to analyze people’s preferences in choosing a place to live in urban areas. This study analyzes two choices of models which are aspects of homeownership (buying or renting) and aspects of residential types (private or public).

Using data collected through a survey of 1,000 households in greater Jakarta (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi), this study found that households which have fixed employment status, an older age, a larger number of family members, higher level of education and literacy in housing policy, accessible house location and more affordable to own house have a higher probability to choose to own a house. In addition, education level, age, and family size are major determinants of a household’s decision to occupy a public house rather than a private house. The findings provide basic input to government development programs in designing housing policy for low-income people.

There are only a few studies related to house-ownership preferences in low-income people, especially in developing countries, including Indonesia. This study contributes to the housing studies literature by strengthening empirical evidence from developing countries that have large populations and mostly live in urban areas.