In economics and computer science, the house allocation problem is the problem of assigning objects to people with different preferences, such that each person receives exactly one object. The name "house allocation" comes from the main motivating application, which is assigning dormitory houses to students. Other commonly used terms are assignment problem and one-sided matching. When agents already own houses (and may trade them with other agents), the problem is often called a housing market. In house allocation problems, it is assumed that monetary transfers are not allowed; the variant in which monetary transfers are allowed is known as rental harmony.