By Tyler Eutsler, NLIHC Research Intern
In a new publication from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies titled “Do Formerly Assisted Housing Developments Remain Affordable?,” the authors examine the affordability of formerly assisted housing developments in Florida after subsidy restrictions have expired. The majority of properties previously funded by subsidies continue to operate as rental housing, but very few remain affordable to renters with incomes below 60% of area median income (AMI). The authors note that with nearly 35,000 additional assisted housing units in Florida set to expire in the next decade, preserving and expanding affordable housing, especially affordable at lower income limits, is essential as market rents are increasing faster than renter incomes.
The Shimberg Center tracks affordable housing subsidized by HUD, Florida Housing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development (RD) office, and local housing finance authorities. When these subsidized properties are no longer subject to income and rent limits, the Shimberg Center adds them to its annually updated Lost Properties Inventory (LPI). By matching these LPI properties to 2023 rental data from Altos Research, the authors analyzed post-subsidy rents and their affordability.
At the time of the study, 679 developments were on the LPI, with nearly 95% still operating as residential properties. The authors matched 300 of these rental properties to the Altos dataset to assess rent affordability. Properties were deemed “affordable” if all listed rental units were affordable for households below a given AMI threshold, “mixed” if some were affordable above and some below a given AMI threshold, and “unaffordable” if all units were above a given AMI threshold.
Very few properties were either affordable or had mixed affordability for renters at or below 60% AMI. Ninety-seven percent of properties were completely unaffordable at 30% AMI, 91% were completely unaffordable at 50% AMI, and 81% were completely unaffordable at 60% AMI. In fact, no properties were completely affordable at 30% AMI, just 1% were affordable at 50% AMI, and 4% were affordable at 60% AMI. Even at 80% AMI, 40% of properties were unaffordable.
The vast majority of properties that exit affordability restrictions in Florida are no longer affordable. By 2035, the affordability restrictions on 35,000 assisted housing units in Florida will potentially expire and be added to the Lost Properties Inventory. Greater resources for the preservation and expansion of the assisted housing supply are needed to mitigate these potential losses. In particular, there should be a greater emphasis on creating and preserving units affordable at lower-income thresholds like 30% and 50% AMI.
Read the article here.