NLIHC releases periodic reports, research notes and white papers on a variety of housing policy issues, like renters in foreclosure, assisted housing preservation and other emerging issues.
Balancing Priorities: Preservation and Neighborhood Opportunity in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program Beyond Year 30
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the largest national affordable housing program in the U.S. By 2030, nearly half a million current LIHTC units, or nearly a quarter of the total stock will reach the end of all federally mandated rent-affordability and income restrictions. Some of these units will be lost from the affordable housing supply as they convert to market-rate rents. Others may be lost to physical deterioration unless new capital investment is available for rehabilitation and renovation. This report sheds light on these preservation challenges with an examination of the neighborhood characteristics of these LIHTC units and a discussion of how scarce resources for affordable housing lead to a dilemma between the priorities of preserving affordable housing and promoting mobility for low-income families to higher-opportunity neighborhoods. The report addresses this dilemma by offering a broader vision for a housing safety net. Learn More
A Rare Occurrence: The Geography and Race of Mortgages Over $500,000
In A Rare Occurrence: The Geography and Race of Mortgages Over $500,000, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has analyzed the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for all government-insured and conventional mortgages originated from 2012, 2013, and 2014 for home purchase or refinancing. The study looks at the geography of mortgages over $500,000 and who receives them in terms of the race of the recipients of these mortgages. Given that mortgages over $500,000 are a rare occurrence in most of the United States, the report invalidates critics’ fears that lowering the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) cap to $500,000 will affect home prices nationwide.
Aligning Federal Low Income Housing Programs with Housing Need
NLIHC undertook the Alignment Project in order to gain a better understanding of how existing federal housing resources are being used and to learn how those existing resources might be better aligned with the need for housing among ELI households. A series of research reports and policy recommendations were produced from the Alignment Project.
The first product of this project is the report, Aligning Federal Low Income Housing Programs with Housing Need, released in December 2014. In this report NLIHC found that while the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and other programs do serve extremely low income (ELI) households, those with incomes at or below 30% of area median income (AMI), they rarely do so without relying on housing vouchers. The report also features innovative strategies used by affordable housing developers to achieve deep affordability in their properties without relying on vouchers and includes five case studies of such properties. Learn More.
Memo to Members and Partners Articles
October 22, 2018
NLIHC and PAHRC Issue New Report on ‘Year 30’ and on Balancing Preservation and Mobility in the Tax Credit Program
March 28, 2016
U.S. Lacks Housing for 7.2 Million Lowest Income Renters
November 18, 2013