This thesis investigates the impact of electricity distribution equipment on the value of residential units in the UK. This is a complex task, due to the potential influence on the market from the publics' perception of a perceived link between living in close proximity to high voltage overhead power lines (HVOTLs) and a number of adverse health effects. A review of the literature revealed that no previous studies had been undertaken within the UK to establish the impact of HVOTLs on house prices and as such, identified a gap in knowledge within the UK and provided a focus for this thesis. Due to a lack of available transaction data in England, investigating the impact on house price relies entirely on the use of qualitative research methods. Therefore to test the accuracy of the results from the perceptual study, a benchmark was developed using transaction data obtained from a residential housing estate in Blackwood, Scotland where a HYOTL was present. The thesis begins with an overview of the current planning and development controls relating to the siting of electricity distribution equipment and the subsequent development of land near HYOTLs. A critical review of the literature is presented which, due to the perceived relationship between living near HVOTLs and a health risk, includes literature on other related areas, for instance, property stigma, risk analysis and scientific and epidemiological studies on the possible health effects. ' A multimethod approach is adopted towards data gathering, using both qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. Buyers' and valuers' perceptions of the impact of a HYOTL on value are obtained using postal surveys and interviews. Additional information is gathered from the electricity utilities, residential developers and government planning departments. Using a case study approach and a hedonic pricing methodology (to enable the relationship between a HYOTL and house price to be explored), selling price data and asking price data from three locations were gathered and analysed. Regression analysis established that a INOTL near a residential unit does have an impact on house price, although this impact is not always negative. The results from three case studies, the opinion surveys and the interviews are compared, indicating that opinion surveys may result in an underestimation of the impact of a HYOTL on selling price and, by contrast, appraisers may overestimate the negative impact of HVOTLs on asking price when marketing a house. The results suggest reliance on one method may prove misleading and therefore the use of a multimethod approach towards data collection may improve the reliability of findings.

This thesis, motivated by my reflections about the failings of monetary policy implementation as a cause of the sub-prime crisis, attempts to answer the following inquiries: (i) whether interest rates have played a major role in generating the house price fluctuations in the U.S., (ii) what are the effects of accommodative monetary policy on the economy given banks' excessive risk-taking, and (iii) whether an optimal monetary policy rule can be found for curbing credit-driven economic volatilities in the model economy with unconventional transmission channels operating. By using a decomposition technique and regression analysis, it can be shown that short-term interest rates exert the most potent influence on the evolution of the volatile components of housing prices. One possible explanation for this is that low policy rates for a prolonged period tend to encourage bankers to take on more risk in lending. This transmission channel, labelled as the risk-taking channel, accounts for the gap to some extent between the forecast and the actual impact of monetary policy on the housing market and the overall economy. A looser monetary policy stance can also shift the preference of economic agents toward housing as theoretically and empirically corroborated in the context of choice between durable and nondurable goods. This transmission route is termed the preference channel. If these two channels are operative in the economy, policy makers need to react aggressively to rapid credit growth in order to stabilize the paths of housing prices and output. These findings provide meaningful implications for monetary policy implementation. First of all, central bankers should strive to identify in a timely fashion newly emerging and state-dependent transmission channels of monetary policy, and accurately assess the impact of policy decisions transmitted through these channels. Secondly, the intervention of central banks in the credit or housing market by adjusting policy rates can be optimal, relative to inaction, in circumstances where banks' risk-taking and the preference for housing are overly exuberant.