Affordable housing
new page, suggested by Sam Moss, Fay Darmawi.
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. Needs help.")
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."
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.
- Mostly built between the 1930s and 1970s.
- Operating expenses covered by rents.
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- Regulated Affordable Housing (LIHTC, Section 8, &c)
- Market rate housing that's affordable for everyone in a community
- 30% of gross income
- Transportation costs and housing
- Increasing the availability of affordable housing
- Policy options for creating more affordable housing (inclusionary zoning, housing subsidies e.g. Section 8 housing vouchers, low income housing tax credits, etc.)
- Community land trusts
- Over-crowding
- Build more
- 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]