LIHTC

There’s no denying that affordable housing can be expensive to build. But we need to look at the long-term benefits of those investments to see the bigger picture.

What were the biggest Shelterforce stories of the year? We count down the top 10 of 2023.

Adding more credits and making tweaks do not actually address some of the major weaknesses of the program. We should be bolder.

Legislators visited Vienna to learn about the city’s social housing program. Here’s how they say their states’ housing crises would benefit from similar policies.

Even those who praise the tax credit program and what it has accomplished are concerned that there are so few sizeable alternatives to it.

Last year, we reported on tenants in Northern Virginia LIHTC properties whose rents were raised in the middle of their leases. Here’s how other states have banned the practice.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is famously complex. We can’t exactly make it simple, but we’ve broken down the basics, especially those that residents of a LIHTC property might want to know, as clearly as possible.

Housing and policy experts agree that LIHTC has successfully increased the supply of affordable housing. But they also believe there’s room for improvement.

LIHTC developers must follow strict affordability rules—and fulfill other promises—for at least 30 years. While industry insiders insist compliance rates are high, tenant advocates say noncompliance is a real problem.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit was created in a moment when other real estate tax preferences were going away—but at the time, no one expected it to grow into the main source of affordable housing finance in the country.

The city is growing fast and building a lot of housing. But the new housing isn’t keeping pace with the need, especially for high-income and extremely low-income earners.

Background explainers, affordability restrictions, and race and belonging topped the list of our most-read pieces of the year.