Housing vouchers in the United States,great Britain,and the Netherlands: Current issues and future perspectives

Abstract

We compare the current U.S. housing voucher program with the British housing benefit and the Dutch housing allowance programs. After presenting the theory behind income‐related housing support, which underpins both the U.S. and European systems, we compare the three programs with respect to their scope (the budgeted versus the entitlement approach), the relationship between housing support and rent levels, the poverty trap, moral hazards, and administrative problems.

The United States can learn from Great Britain and the Netherlands that a full entitlement program can best promote equity, but given the present political and economic climate, it is unlikely that Congress will adopt such a program anytime soon. Great Britain and the Netherlands can learn from the United States how to design a more efficient tenant subsidy program, one that provides incentives to find less expensive units and promotes family self‐sufficiency through enhanced job‐seeking behavior.     

Affordable housing in New Urbanist Communities: A survey of developers

Abstract

Despite the unequivocal goal of income diversity as expressed in the Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, one of the more significant challenges facing the movement has been the creation of socially diverse neighborhoods, especially ones that include a mix of incomes. Although recent reports show that most New Urbanist developments are being built for upper‐middle‐class residents, some projects have managed to support income diversity. This article takes a closer look at those projects, reporting on the results of a nationwide survey of New Urbanist developers.

We found that many developers have used complex, creative schemes to make affordable housing possible within the New Urbanist context. Developers created affordable opportunities by combining available government programs, partnerships with nonprofits, and innovative design solutions. These efforts have provided important sources of affordable housing within the context of walkable communities—serving as examples that should be emulated by future developers.     

Job–Worker Balance and Income Match in the United States

This study uses journey-to-work data from urban census tracts across the United States to investigate whether people living and working in the same area is related to job–worker balance or to the income from jobs. The results indicate that more people live and work in the same commute shed if there is job–worker balance and income matching.     

Beyond Worst Case Needs: Measuring the Breadth and Severity of Housing Insecurity Among Urban Renters

ABSTRACT

Many indicators of renter household insecurity remain widespread or have shown signs of worsening in the past decade, including unaffordability, poor unit conditions, overcrowding, and evictions. Most research to date has examined each of these conditions as a standalone problem, without examining the extent and severity of simultaneously occurring housing problems. This study closes that gap by examining the suitability of measuring housing insecurity as an index of multiple variables within four identified dimensions: unaffordability, poor conditions, overcrowding, and forced moves. Results show that dimensions of housing insecurity are highly correlated and suitable for measurement as an index. The proposed index shows that housing insecurity is widespread among U.S. renters, but varies greatly in severity and type.     

To move or not to move: Relationships to place and relocation choices in HOPE VI

This article has two purposes. First, it explores the ideas of vulnerability, precariousness, and resilience as they apply to people, housing, neighborhoods, and metropolitan areas. People might be more vulnerable to shocks or strains, we propose, if they are members of racial/ethnic minorities, recent immigrants, non-high school graduates, are children or over 75 years old, disabled, recent veterans, living in poverty, or living in single-parent households. Housing may be more precarious, we propose, when it is rented, multi-family, manufactured, crowded, or subject to overpayment. The article goes on to document the relationships between potential personal or household vulnerability and potentially precarious housing conditions. Microdata from the 2005–2007 American Community Survey suggest that an important minority of people have multiple vulnerabilities; these vulnerabilities associate with residence in precarious housing. We suggest that policy be directed toward precarious situations most likely to afflict the most vulnerable populations, especially single-parent households and immigrants.     

Comment on Langley C. Keyes et al.’s “Networks and nonprofits: Opportunities and challenges in an era of federal devolution”

Abstract

Housing markets are determined by a complex interplay of consumers and suppliers. The Keyes et al. article discusses the changing landscape for nonprofit housing providers and what recent developments in federal housing assistance policy will mean to them. But this perspective is too narrow to predict the effects of changes in federal housing policy because all housing providers are somewhat interrelated. All housing providers need to be considered, and using the terms “for‐profit” and “nonprofit” to distinguish between the two types of providers is unfortunate and misleading.

For‐profits and nonprofits are fundamentally different: They place a different emphasis on community, and nonprofits can often deliver subsidies that for‐profits cannot. In addition, the strengths and the skills needed to produce housing under somewhat different objectives have led to some specialization. Ultimately, however, determining the optimal provider or mix of providers is best left to local and state governments as federal housing assistance devolves.     

Creating an enabling environment for housing: Recent reforms in Mexico

Abstract

A recent World Bank policy statement on housing advocates the reform of government policies, institutions, and regulations to enable housing markets to work more efficiently. The policy statement identifies several instruments that governments can use to address housing market constraints, and to improve the performance of the housing sector as a whole, while paying particular attention to the needs of the poor.

In recent years, the government of Mexico has employed many of the enabling instruments described in the World Bank's housing policy statement. This article reviews the role of housing in the Mexican economy and the major reforms that the Mexican government has implemented to improve the operation of the housing market so that private lenders and home builders can play an expanded role in addressing the country's housing needs. The World Bank has supported the government's reform program, and since 1985 it has lent more than $1.2 billion to Mexico for low‐income housing projects.     

The impact of RTC dispositions on local housing and real estate markets

Abstract

This article examines the critical question of whether disposition activity of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) will disrupt local real estate markets by driving values down and encouraging additional defaults. The question is approached by identifying key characteristics of local economies and real estate markets that could be associated with adverse market responses and then examining 12 individual metropolitan areas in this context. A survey of metropolitan areas with high RTC concentrations finds varying potential for adverse impact. Detailed case studies in three metropolitan areas—Dallas, Denver, and Oklahoma City—find the potential to vary widely by property type, quality level, and geographic location. By and large, commercial markets are expected to be less affected because of (1) the already depressed condition of most markets, (2) market segmentation that would insulate investment grade submarkets, (3) capitalization of expectations about disposition, and (4) political constraints on the rate of RTC activity. However, the geographic concentration of inventory that is combined with potential tipping dynamics associated with neighborhood change could render certain affordable housing markets vulnerable to adverse market responses. Policy recommendations to mitigate such impacts are suggested.     

Why voucher and certificate users live in distressed neighborhoods

Abstract

The Section 8 voucher and certificate program potentially allows recipients to choose better neighborhoods than they might otherwise be able to afford. This article compares the location of households using Section 8 vouchers and certificates with the location of other renter households, both low‐income renters and all renters.

In 1998, Section 8 users were 75 percent as likely as other poor tenants to live in distressed neighborhoods but 150 percent more likely than all renters to live in such tracts. These national averages obscure substantial variation among metropolitan areas. Section 8 users concentrate in distressed neighborhoods when rental housing concentrates there, but they avoid distressed neighborhoods with very low rents. Concentration also hinges on race; when assisted households are mostly black and other residents are mostly white, assisted households are much more likely to live in distressed neighborhoods.