Publication

What Can We Learn about the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program by Looking at the Tenants?

This policy brief examines LIHTC tenant income to assess the extent to which the program’s target demographic is served. The brief finds that forty percent of LIHTC units house extremely low-income (ELI) households. In addition, the report finds that of ELI households living in LIHTC units, more than 70 percent receive some form of rental assistance, which suggests that additional subsidies are crucial to the functionality of the program. In terms of rent burden, LIHTC tenants, particularly those without rental assistance, have higher rent burdens than HUD tenants. Since it was created in 1986, the LIHTC program has created over 2.2 million units of affordable housing and today it is the largest affordable housing program in the U.S. This study is the first rigorous, national analysis of the incomes of LIHTC tenants.

  • Date: October 2012
  • Research Area(s):
  • Publication Type: Policy Briefs