Randall Lewis Housing Initiative

The Randall Lewis Housing Initiative generates novel research and analysis to inform important housing policy challenges, educates the public about complex housing topics, and develops and disseminates practical strategies for improving lives through housing and land use reform. We amplify the impact of this work by organizing events that connect policymakers and bridge the gap between research and practice; engage the media and other institutions to influence public discourse; and support UCLA students and faculty in their research and other endeavors. We also produce UCLA Housing Voice, a biweekly podcast show translating emerging research for a non-academic audience.

This research is led by Associate Faculty Director Michael Lens and managed by Shane Phillips, and it involves a growing number of affiliated scholars at UCLA and beyond.

Research Areas

The Housing Initiative engages with a wide range of issues, with a particular focus on four research areas. Click below to learn more about our research priorities and ongoing work, and to see our publications in each topic area.

Achieving Fair Housing

Reform and implementation of fair housing efforts in California

Increasing Infill Production

Regulatory impediments to infill housing production, especially lower-cost housing

Evaluating Supply Impacts

Effects of housing policy and production on affordability, residential mobility, and other key outcomes

Improving Housing Finance

Housing finance and its impact on production and household stability, and racial and ethnic disparities in access to credit

UCLA Housing Voice Podcast

Co-hosted by Michael Lens and Shane Phillips, UCLA Housing Voice breaks down the barriers to academic housing research. Talk to the authors and get to know what their research really means for housing policy.

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Learning from the World: Housing Policy Conversations with International Experts

As part of the UCLA course Public Affairs 149 International Housing Policy, professor Paavo Monkkonen interviewed a number of international experts on how different housing policies are implemented in their country.

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