Housing Wellbeing and Settlement Intentions of Skilled Migrants in China: the Effects of Subjective Housing Feelings and Objective Housing Outcomes

Due to a shortage of qualified professionals, many international cities have implemented a range of policies to attract skilled migrants and retain them for permanent work in destination cities, aiming to take advantage of the globalized competition. Despite being relatively understudied, the role of housing is of utmost importance, especially if skilled migrants can be attracted to work and live in destination cities permanently. This study conceptualized housing wellbeing as subjective housing feelings and objective housing outcomes, aiming to disentangle the relationship between housing wellbeing and settlement intentions. Based on the 2019 questionnaire survey in Guangzhou, this study found that skilled migrants who have become homeowners in Guangzhou have a higher propensity to settle in Guangzhou than those without homeownership. Also, this study found an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of rooms and settlement intentions. Moreover, when the housing size per person is between 16 and 20 m², housing size per person is positively associated with settlement intentions; nevertheless, when the housing size per person is below 16 m² or above 20 m², there is nil relation between housing size per person and settlement intentions. Finally, although skilled migrants are not satisfied with the current housing situation, they are still willing to settle in Guangzhou permanently. This study has extended the knowledge of housing wellbeing and contributed to profoundly understanding the complex settlement intentions of skilled migrants.