TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Differentiating Housing Demand, Housing Needs, and Housing Requirements

There are no widely accepted definitions for housing demand, housing needs or housing requirements. Consequently, the appellations are used interchangeably by planners, economists and housing policy analysts, creating confusion. This paper, authored by Senior Research Fellow Frank Clayton, examines how housing demand, needs, and requirements are defined in the housing-related literature and recommends standardized definitions for use in housing market and policy analyses: 

• Housing demand - The number of new and existing housing units purchased or rented in a specified period: a market-driven concept relating to the types, numbers, and locations of homes that households choose to occupy based on preferences and willingness to pay.
• Housing needs - Applying the core housing need definition. Households are said to be in "core housing need" if their housing falls below at least one of the adequacy, affordability, or suitability standards or if they spend 30% or more of their total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards). Many households in core housing need live in suitable, acceptable accommodation; they only need help paying the rent for their current units.
• Housing requirements - The number of housing units by type, tenure, and location to maintain housing affordability at the market level: defined as projected household growth + net demolitions and conversions + vacancy allowance + affordability adjustment = total requirements.

Do you agree with these definitions? If not, how would you define these terms?

Read the report here