Explainers LIHTC: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Complicated

How Are LIHTC Rents Set—And Why Can’t So Many Renters Afford Them?

This video breaks down the LIHTC rent-setting process, and shows the surprising number of people it doesn’t serve.

Photo by astoriasunday via flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0

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This article is part of the Under the Lens series

LIHTC: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Complicated

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program awards billions in tax credits each year to private market investors and developers who promise to build or preserve affordable housing. But the program is notoriously complex. Who enforces its rules? Why is it so dominant in the housing sector? What's the current state of efforts to reform it?

How are rents set in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments? How do rents in this affordable housing still end up out of reach for so many residents?

For more details on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, see our FAQ LIHTC for Regular People.

About the Author

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Shelterforce Staff

Shelterforce is the only independent, non-academic publication covering the worlds of community development, affordable housing, and neighborhood stabilization.

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LIHTC: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Complicated

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