In this paper, the migration decisions of intending-transfer households in the council housing sector of Birmingham, England are investigated. The decisions are broadly conceptualized within the two main phases of the Brown–Moore model of residential mobility: (1) the decision to seek a new residence, and (2) the relocation decision (specifically, search behaviour and evaluation procedures). The data are based on an interview survey of transfer applicants on six contrasting council estates. The findings disclose that, although many households are dissatisfied with their present estate, ‘dwelling needs’ constitute the most important category of reasons for seeking a transfer. In terms of the relocation decision, most households exhibit highly constrained search spaces, and they evaluate alternative council estates on the basis of such factors as level of security, social character, general state of repair, and accessibility. Important variations are revealed among the decisionmaking procedures of subgroups of households defined according to (a) the type of estate where they reside prior to the proposed move, and (b) family life-cycle criteria.
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