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.
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Thanks for this! I’ve been beating this drum for YEARS. Still, near all housing professionals, elected officials, government researchers, nonprofit houser board members, CANNOT BELIEVE that rents exceed 30% of income.
In fact, this video may be making a similar error: if the 2007 standards are still in effect, public housing authorities can choose to use this flat rent method.
Flat rents have rarely been challenged. in 1993 by Nelson and Khadduri published a thorough examination of this phenom’.
Other program factors also affect the impacts of LIHTC rents, factors more technical than that explained in the video.
If “affordable” housing programs charge UNaffordable rents, then such programs are justifiable to critics…how?