A report by G. Thomas Kinsley from the Urban Institute, Trends in Housing Problems and Federal Housing Assistance, finds that the population of low income renters with housing needs grew by 24% between 2005 and 2015, while the number of households receiving assistance from one of HUD’s deep subsidy programs (public housing, privately-owned subsidized housing, and housing vouchers) increased by only 7%. The percentage of low income renters who received HUD assistance declined from 18% to 16%.
The report provides a basic overview and history of HUD-assisted public housing, privately-owned subsidized housing, and Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) and of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) program. Between 1993 and 2016, the affordable housing stock lost 120,000 public housing units and 350,000 privately-owned subsidized housing units. The number of vouchers increased by 1.1 million, while the Housing Credit program added more than 2.1 million units. Extremely low income households, whose household incomes are no more than the poverty level or 30% of the area median income, often need additional assistance like a voucher to afford a Housing Credit unit.
Trends in Housing Problems and Federal Housing Assistance is available at: http://urbn.is/2jt24UC