Subsidized housing

Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance program aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for people in need with low to moderate incomes. Forms of subsidies include direct housing subsidies, non-profit housing, public housing, rent supplements and some forms of co-operative and private sector housing. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing."

Types

Co-operative housing

Some co-operative housing may offer subsidized units, but its main mandate is not subsidization. Its operating mandate is to offer non profit housing, where the rents or housing charges as they are called, goes back into the maintenance of the building instead of the profit of a land lord. Co-operative housing is controlled by the members of the co-op, which is run by a board of directors. There is no outside landlord. In most cases, all residents of the co-op become members and are owners, and agree to follow certain by-laws. Some co-ops are subsidized housing because they receive government funding to support a rent-geared-to-income program for low-income residents. There are other co-ops that are market-rate and limited equity, these types of cooperatives do not receive government funding and are not subsidized housing.^[1] In addition to providing affordable housing, some co-ops serve the needs of specific communities, including seniors, artists, and persons with disabilities.

Examples of co-operative housing include: College Houses, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), and Habitat '67, and regular rental housing be they regular looking apartments, townhouses or high end buildings such as those overlooking Central Park in New York City.

Housing subsidies

Housing subsidies are government financial assistance to help provide housing. The largest housing subsidy in the US is the home mortgage interest deduction, which allows homeowners with mortgages on first homes, second homes, and even boats with bathrooms to lower their taxes owed. The cost to the federal government of the mortgage interest deductions in 2012 was approximately $110 billion. Some states also have the mortgage interest deduction provision. The majority of the home mortgage interest deduction goes to the top 5% income earners in the United States. Some housing subsidies are also provided to low income tenants in renting housing. These subsidies are often defined by whether the subsidy is given to the landlord and then criteria are set for the tenants they can lease to or whether the subsidy is given to the tenant, typically as a voucher, and they are allowed to find suitable private housing. The subsidy amount is typically based on the tenant's income, usually the difference between the rent and 30% of the tenant's gross income, but other formulas have been used.^[2]

In rare cases a financial institution or non-profit organization will provide mortgage loans at rates that are not profitable for the sake of a specific group. In Canada one such organization is Non-Profit Housing Subsidies Canada which provides subsidized mortgage loans to employees and volunteers of other non-profit organizations.^[3]

Non-profit housing

Non-profit housing is owned and managed by private non-profit groups such as churches, ethnocultural communities or by governments. Many units are provided by community development corporations (CDCs). They use private funding and government subsidies to support a rent-geared-towards-income program for low-income tenants.^[4]^[5]^{[clarification needed]}

Public housing

Public housing is real property owned and managed by the government. Tenants must meet specific eligibility requirements.

Rent supplements

Rent supplements are subsidies paid by the government to private landlords who accept low-income tenants. The supplements make up the difference between rental "market price" and the amount of rent paid by tenants, for example 30% of the tenants income. These may have the unintended effect of increasing rents at nonsubsidized units, by distorting the local supply and demand. A notable example of a rent supplement in the United States is Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. § 1437f).

References

^ "Housing Cooperatives". U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
^ Haffner, M and Oxley, M, Housing Subsidies: Definitions and Comparisons, Housing Studies, Volume 14, Number 2, 1 March 1999 , pp. 145-162(18)
^ http://www.nphsc.org
^ HUD, "Status and Prospects of the Nonprofit Housing Sector", June 1995
^ Cf. Koebel (1998), chapters on Non-Profit Housing