What Happens When Affordability Restrictions Expire for Half a Million Homes?

October 22, 2018                By: Jared Brey

As rents continue to rise more quickly than incomes across the U.S., cities have become increasingly focused on affordable housing: How to pay for it, where to put it, and how to keep it from disappearing.

(Credit: NLIHC/PAHRC)

Hundreds of thousands of affordable units created under one of the biggest federal housing programs ever could start disappearing soon, in a manner of speaking. According to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation, nearly half a million units created with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) could be lost in the next ten years.

Most LIHTC (“ly-tek”) units are required to remain affordable for 30 years, the report notes. The LIHTC program was created in 1987, and the affordability requirements have started to expire on the first funded units. Between 2020 and 2029, more than 485,000 units will reach year 30, and could become unaffordable to low-income residents — including their existing tenants — without additional subsidy, the report says................Read More