Affordable housing

Definition 

Affordable housing is generally defined as housing which a given household or population is deemed able to afford, such that housing costs take up no more than some percentage, say 30%, of the household’s income. Costs usually include rent or mortgage payments, insurance, taxes, and utilities, and may in some analyses include transportation costs. 

Regulated "Affordable housing" 

In some contexts, particularly in the United States, "Affordable housing" or is sometimes used to mean housing units which by regulation may be offered or occupied or sold only to households within certain income ranges, or for which residents pay only up to some maximum percentage of their income. These units may have been built, acquired, leased, or designated (as in on-site inclusionary housing) for this purpose. They may be permanently so regulated, or for a given time (say 45 years from construction), or limited time but get extended by later agreement. 

In this usage, "Affordable housing" is often presented as the opposite of market-rate housing.  However, this is tendentious, since market-rate housing may be affordable in the general sense, or may be affordable given a housing voucher or housing tax credit. 

To avoid confusion with the general meaning of the term, this category of housing use may also be termed 

• Affordable Housing (capitalized) 
• Subsidized affordable housing
• Regulated affordable 
• Below-market-rate ('BMR')
• Non-market-rate
• Price-controlled  (however this term might also be used to include housing subject to rent control or resale price limitation. 

Income categories 

US Federal (Department of Housing and Urban Development) definitions: 

• Low-income (LI): < 80% of the median family income for the area.
• Very low-income (VLI): < 50% of the median family income for the area.
• Extremely Low-Income (ELI): families whose incomes do not exceed the greater of 30 percent of the median family income for the area or the federal poverty guidelines as published by the Department of Health and Human Services. 

San Francisco additional categories, which are considered within the category of "Affordable housing" as defined for the city Affordable Housing Bonus Program. 

• Moderate income: up to 120% of Area Median Income 
• Middle income: up to 140% of Area Median Income

Income / wealth issues 

Commonly, a household's ability to afford housing is based on gross income (before taxes), although it is sometimes recognized that households wealth (assets) may be important also, particularly for home ownership; also, credit rating and other factors which can create barriers to access. 

[cite Jacobus article, etc]

How much is affordable?

Percentages, "residual income" approach, etc.

Cf. papers on this in Affordable Housing Reader. 
 

Affordability 

As opposed to "Affordable housing" which may refer to types of housing and be understood variously, "Affordability" refers to the problem itself and metrics to measure it. 

 

The Median Multiple indicator, recommended by the World Bank and the United Nations, rates affordability of housing by dividing the median house price by gross annual median household income. 

 

The term affordable housing is used to categorize the degree to which people can afford to rent or buy housing. The metric often applied is whether housing is affordable for those residents who have median household incomes, as per their location (Thadani, 2010). A common guideline for considering market rate housing affordable is if residents spend thirty percent or less of their gross income on housing. Note that some researchers use 35 percent as a measure and others propose a residual income approach that suggests that costs other than housing, such as child and healthcare and transportation be factored into affordability measures.

While traditional perspectives on affordable housing have focused on income to housing cost ratios alone, a transit-oriented view has been gaining in popularity among those focused on housing affordability (Haughey and Sherriff, 2010). The latter view shifts emphasis from simply creating "cheap" housing to addressing the holistic needs of low and moderate-income residents by locating inexpensive housing near employment centers, transit (dependable bus, busways, street cars, light and heavy rail commuter service and subways) and essential services (Haughey and Sherriff, 2010).

Wikipedia: "Affordable Housing"  ("This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it.")

 

Outline of Article

Different definitions of "affordable housing."

Here are current U.S. definitions.  Note that public housing is defined by who runs it (the government), while income limits can vary by country.  In the US, the limit is 50% area median income.  In Singapore, it's around 150% AMI.  Sweden has no income limits at all.

 

Public Housing
- managed by a government's Housing Authority. 
- Typical qualifying income: in the US, below 50% of area median income (AMI).  In Oakland, for a 4 person household, 50% of AMI is $48,750 a year.

- Rent: usually set at 30% of monthly adjusted income, regardless of income.  Those with zero income pay a nominal amount, such as $25. 

- Construction costs paid for by government funds.
- Mostly built between the 1930s and 1970s.
 

Below Market Rate (BMR) Unit

- managed by nonprofit or private business. 

- Typical qualifying income: below 50-90% of area median income (AMI)

- Rent: fixed regardless of tenant income, typically such that a household making 50% AMI pays 30% of their income to rent.

- Usually not affordable to households with income below 50% AMI.

- Construction costs paid for mostly by government funds and tax credits (a mechanism where a company can choose to directly fund housing in lieu of paying taxes).  May also be funded by developer if it's an inclusionary unit within a market rate building. 
- Operating expenses covered by rents.

- Most new affordable housing built today falls in this category.

 

Moderate Income Unit

- managed by nonprofit or private business. 

- Typical qualifying income: 90-120% of AMI

- Rent: fixed regardless of tenant income, typically such that a household making 90% AMI pays 30% of their income to rent.

- Usually not eligible for government or tax credit funding.

- Currently rare

 

Inclusionary Unit

- A BMR or moderate income unit located inside a building that also contains market rate units.

1.  
   1. Regulated Affordable Housing (LIHTC, Section 8, &c)
   2. Market rate housing that's affordable for everyone in a community
      1. 30% of gross income
      2. Transportation costs and housing

 

Chicago

In Chicago the planning department defines affordable housing as follows:

"Housing affordable to households whose income does not exceed fifty (50) percent of the metropolitan median household income, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing must remain affordable continuously for a period of not less than fifteen (15) years to qualify as affordable housing."

 

"Household" is defined as a person or group of people who expect to live together and share household expenses. Note that in some contexts, it may be common for other people to also contribute to housing expenses and/or to share a physical dwelling -- for example, parents of household members may help pay rent; a household may take in boarder tenants, or share a dwelling unit with other people or households. 

Implicitly, "affordable housing" is also normally considered to be legal, habitable, and non-substandard housing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Increasing the availability of affordable housing
   1. Policy options for creating more affordable housing (inclusionary zoning, housing subsidies e.g. Section 8 housing vouchers, low income housing tax credits, etc.)
   2. Community land trusts 
   3. Over-crowding
   4. Build more
   5. Increase incomes

 

 

See also

• NYU Furman Center / Capital One National Affordable Rental Housing Landscape (PDF) An analysis of rental housing affordability trends in the 11 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.(New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta and Miami). The study, commissioned by Capital One and undertaken by the NYU Furman Center, was released on March 8, 2016
• Inclusionary_zoning
• Rent/Cost_burdened

References

Haughey, R. and Ryan Sherriff. (2010). <я>Challenges and Policy Options for Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing near Transit and in
Other Location-Efficient Areas. Retrieved from Urban Institute.

Thadani, D. (2010). <я>The Language of Towns and Cities: A Visual Dictionary. New York: Rizzoli. 

City of Chicago : Land Use Planning and Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from [1]