NLIHC and PAHRC Launch Updated National Housing Preservation Database

NLIHC and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) released a major update to the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) on Friday, September 22. The update includes new data and a new user interface, as well as profiles of the federally funded affordable housing preservation needs for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

There are almost 5 million federally assisted rental homes nationally. Nearly 500,000 of these rental homes will reach the end of their current subsidy contracts and affordability restrictions for low income families in the next five years. About one in four of these homes are funded by Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), and three-fifths are funded by HUD Project Based Rental Assistance (Section 8) contracts. 

Many federally assisted properties also have significant maintenance or rehabilitation needs. Approximately 84,322 public housing units are in properties with failing property inspection scores and require immediate investments to address their physical deterioration.

These preservation challenges come at a time when the U.S. faces a shortage of 7.4 million affordable and available homes for the lowest income renters. Failing to address preservation needs will only add to this deficit. Preserving affordable housing is more cost-effective than replacing it. Of the nearly 500,000 federally assisted rental homes at-risk in the next five years, PAHRC estimates that almost 40,000 could be permanently lost from the publicly-assisted and affordable housing stock. The cost to rebuild and maintain new rental units to replace the lost homes would be $6.4 billion over 50 years, compared to $4.8 billion to preserve and maintain the already-existing homes over that period.

To assist research, planning, and advocacy for preservation, the NHPD provides data on expiring subsidy contracts and affordability restrictions for properties supported by HUD Project-Based Rental Assistance, USDA rental housing programs, and LIHTC. The database also includes REAC (Real Estate Assessment Center) scores for HUD public housing and multifamily assisted properties. REAC scores, based on property inspections, rate the physical quality of the homes. Subsidy expiration and REAC data support preservation efforts by allowing NHPD users to identify properties at-risk of being lost from the affordable housing stock either through subsidy expiration or physical deterioration.

Since 2012, the NHPD has assisted more than 5,000 housing advocates, community leaders, affordable housing developers, researchers, and other housing-related stakeholders across the country to advocate and plan for the preservation of affordable housing.

The NHPD is available at: www.preservationdatabase.org

State preservation profiles are available at: http://bit.ly/2jOsRKP

For more information contact Dan Emmanuel, NLIHC research analyst, at: [email protected] or Kelly McElwain, PAHRC research analyst and database manager, at: [email protected]