The Housing Credit

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) is our nation’s primary tool to create and preserve affordable rental housing

• Since 1986, the Housing Credit has financed the development of nearly 3.5 million affordable homes in urban, suburban, and rural areas according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies.
• These apartments have provided affordable homes to over eight million low-income households, including veterans of the armed forces, senior citizens, formerly homeless families and individuals, people with disabilities, and low-wage workers.

The Housing Credit generates economic activity, tax revenue, and jobs

• Since 1986 the Housing Credit has generated $593 billion in wages and business income and $206 billion in tax revenue, and has supported 5.2 million jobs, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The Housing Credit serves millions of households in need

• Approximately 45 percent of households served are extremely low-income, making 30 percent or less of area median income, according to HUD data.
• Households living in Housing Credit properties have a median annual income of less than $18,000. If forced to pay market-rate rent, many of these households would be just one unforeseen event away from losing their housing.

Housing Credit properties are safe, decent, and financially stable

• Due to strong private-sector oversight stemming from the Housing Credit’s public-private partnership model, properties are built to durable, high-quality standards.
• Since inception, the total foreclosure rate for all Housing Credit properties has been only 0.65 percent, which is lower than any real estate asset class, according to accounting firm CohnReznick.

The Housing Credit is designed to work in all types of communities

• The Housing Credit allows states to set their own affordable housing priorities and to award Housing Credits based on those priorities, e.g. senior housing, housing for veterans, housing in rural areas, or housing for special populations, such as formerly homeless households.
• Housing Credit properties are built in large and small urban areas, suburban communities, rural towns, and on tribal land.
• The Housing Credit has also been important for communities recovering from natural disasters – from the California wildfires to Hurricane Katrina to the floods in Iowa.

The Housing Credit can and should serve even more households

• There is a vast and growing demand for affordable housing. More than 10 million low-income households spend more than half of their monthly income on rent, cutting into other essential expenses like childcare, medicine, groceries and transportation, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
• Meanwhile, there is a growing shortage of affordable housing: For every 100 extremely low-income households, there are only 37 affordable homes available, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. There is also a shortage of 7.1 million rental homes affordable and available for households making 50 percent of area median income and below.
• Virtually no new affordable housing can be constructed without the Housing Credit. As the affordable housing crisis continues to grow, it will be essential to expand and strengthen the Housing Credit.

Learn how the Housing Credit works:

Download the above resource here.