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Income-based housing benefit: Difference between revisions
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== Housing Choice Voucher Program ==
In the United States, the largest income
Section 8 also authorizes a variety of "project-based" rental assistance programs, under which the owner reserves some or all of the units in a building for low-income tenants, in return for a federal government guarantee to make up the difference between the tenant's contribution and the rent in the owner's contract with the government. A tenant who leaves such a subsidized project
== Housing Benefit (UK) ==
The UK's Housing Benefit is a means
== India - rent vouchers pilot ==
BT Online. "[http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/infra/house-rent-government-vouchers-payment/story/247697.html Government might soon pay your house rent through vouchers in 100 Indian cities]." March 9th, 2017. [http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/infra/house-rent-government-vouchers-payment/story/247697.html http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/infra/house-rent-government-vouchers-payment/story/247697.html].<br/>
== Portable housing benefit (in Canada's National Housing Strategy, 2017) ==
from [OAFB 2017]:<br/> "As policies that supported a healthy rental system disappeared, so too did the commitments to rent-geared-toincome units (RGI), or what is more commonly referred to as social housing. Until 1994, Canada’s social housing program had been building 20,000 new units per year, which greatly boosted the availability of housing options for low-income Canadians.25 Around the same time, the Government of Ontario transferred all responsibility of operating and maintaining existing social housing units to the municipalities, which lack the taxation powers and revenues seen at the provincial and federal levels.28 This added increased strain on the budgets of cities and towns across the province, and to this day continues to contribute to the poor quality and long wait lists associated with social housing. With little investment in affordable housing since the 1990s, Ontario’s housing market has been headed towards a state of emergency for years."
"The current federal investment of $11 billion for a National Housing Strategy is promising; however, it has yet to be announced when this funding will be released and where it will be invested. The Ontario Association of Food Banks believes that part of this funding should be invested into [the proposed] portable housing benefit for low-income households
"Under this recommendation, the portable housing benefit would be provided directly to a low-income tenant to ensure that their rent does not exceed 30 per cent of their household income. At its most basic, this benefit would allow low-income families to stay in their homes, and complement supply-side efforts to build new, or repair aging, social housing units. Beyond this, a portable housing benefit would drastically reduce the red tape that is involved in managing the various social housing systems that are in place across the province, helping to reduce wait times and ensuring that families in need are able to secure safe and adequate housing as quickly as possible. At present, individuals that live in rentgeared-to-income housing experience a number of challenges. For example, in the current system, an individual living in social housing cannot move out of fear of losing their RGI unit. As the current benefit is tied to that specific unit, if an individual must move cities for any reason, whether it be employment or to be near family, they would then return to the bottom of the waiting list, where they would likely remain for years before landing a new affordable unit. A portable housing benefit would allow for greater choice and flexibility, providing individuals with the ability to move more freely throughout the province and pursue new opportunities.
"To put the cost of the portable housing benefit into context, it is important to note that all three levels of government already subsidize both homeowners and market-rate private renters. In 2008/2009, the subsidies to both totaled $8.9 billion, with the vast majority ($8.4 billion) targeting homeowners through policies like the First-Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit, capital gains tax exemptions on primary residences, and home renovation tax credits. Much of these homeownertargeted benefits ended up in the hands of higher-income Ontarians, as households with an income of $100,000 or more have an ownership rate of 90.6 per cent, which is almost three times higher than low income Ontarians, who have a home ownership rate of less than 38 per cent."
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"Moreover, the EITC is an invisible subsidy. Just as it works now, landlords would not know whether would-be renters are receiving any EITC benefits, including the housing supplement. It could thus have the effect of reducing discrimination against low-income households with subsidies."
== <br/> Local & state-level housing vouchers ==
Chicago Trust Fund (1989-)
"Chicago started a trust fund in 1989 that now subsidizes the rent of 2,800 households, by bridging the gap between the rent of the housing unit and 30 percent of the family’s income. To be eligible for the program, a family of four must make $24,250 a year or less.." -Waldroupe. <br/>
=== Washington, D.C. Local Rent Supplement Program (2007-) ===
Washington, D.C., started its Local Rent Supplement Program in 2007, which now subsidizes the rent of 1,718 households that make less than 30 percent of median income. The district’s Housing Production Trust Fund pays for the program with deed record and transfer taxes it collects. <br/>
=== New York City rent subsidies ===
New York City has a similar program that provides rent subsidies for qualifying people who live in homeless and domestic violence shelters. <br/>
=== Portland, Oregon pilot (2017) ===
"In November 2015, Northwest Pilot Project, the Urban League of Portland and Home Forward, the region’s federal housing agency, launched the first pilot project to test the effectiveness of a locally funded voucher program with funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust.
"Home Forward supplied 60 of its housing choice vouchers for the program, something the housing agency is able to do because the federal government allows Home Forward to use some of its vouchers for innovative programs.
"The project targeted seniors on fixed incomes, who were facing rent increases they could not afford and who would likely be forced to move. The project was designed to test whether a voucher could prevent those seniors from being displaced from inner North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods, where many of them had lived for many years."
"The voucher pilot program is the brainchild of Bobby Weinstock, a housing advocate with Northwest Pilot Project. So strong is his advocacy for vouchers that Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury jokingly refers to the pilot project as 'the Bobby Weinstock voucher.'"
"Elisa Harrigan, Meyer Memorial Trust’s Affordable Housing Initiative program officer, said the pilot program is one of the most successful affordable housing initiatives that the Trust has funded."
"Weinstock estimates it would cost $6 million to fund 1,000 vouchers. 'Taking local voucher programs to scale is a significant financial challenge,' Jolin said. "
- [Waldroupe 2017].
[https://twitter.com/multco @multco] ANNOUNCED: [https://twitter.com/meyermt @meyermt] commits $150K to help local voucher efforts says [https://twitter.com/dkafoury @Dkafoury] [https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOC2018?src=hashtag_click #SOC2018] <br/> 8:26 AM · Mar 16, 2018·
=== proposed Oregon rental assistance program (2019) ===
Oregon Center for Public Policy released a study on September 23, 2019, called "[https://www.ocpp.org/2019/09/23/state-rent-assistance-program/ A State Rent Assistance Program Would Strengthen Oregon Communities]." [see Hauser & Ordóñez 2019].
The report notes: "This work is made possible in part by generous grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and by gifts from individuals and organizations."
<blockquote>''"In total, federal rent assistance programs helped about 51,000 Oregon households in 2018 — significant but well short of covering existing needs. In 2017, the year of most recent data, about 290,000 renter households in Oregon met the definition of being cost burdened, devoting more than 30 percent of their income towards housing. Of these, 149,000 were severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"About three in four renter households in Oregon eligible for a housing voucher don’t receive one.41 Waitlists are closed in many Oregon communities — including the two most populous counties, Multnomah and Washington — and have been for years. When Oregonians are able to get on a waitlist the average wait time is more than two years to get a voucher."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"Many states, Oregon included, have small state-funded rent assistance programs that target specific populations, such as seniors or the chronically homeless. "''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"Massachusetts is an example of a state with a broader rent assistance program, one aimed at low-income people. Through a combination of tenant- and project-based vouchers, the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program serves over 5,000 low-income households. The program is administered by Public Housing Agencies but overseen by the state housing agency."''</blockquote>
The proposal was commented on by Margot Black, founder and now co-chair of Portland Tenants Union www.pdxtu.org, in a September 29 Twitter conversation:
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<br/> <br/> The idea was supported by Multnomah County Commissioner for District 2 (N and NE Portland), Susheela Jayapal in a Nov 3, 2019 editorial in ''The Oregonian, ''"Opinion: It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program." The Oregonian. Nov 03, 2019. [see Jayapal 2019].
<blockquote>''"It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program.''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"For decades, the federal government played a crucial role in preventing homelessness. Federal rent vouchers helped make housing affordable by subsidizing rents for people who would otherwise not have been able to afford it. This approach worked. Studies show federal rent vouchers help seniors, families with children and people with disabilities stay housed.Unfortunately, over the past few decades, the federal government has shirked this responsibility. The wait list for federal vouchers in Multnomah County is thousands of people long. In addition, the wait to get into public housing is at least two years and can be more than 10 years."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"National studies continue to show that long-term rent vouchers are the quickest, most effective way to keep people housed and out of that downward spiral."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"And a voucher program is something we can act on right now, while we also pursue other important strategies that might take several years to bear fruit — like building more affordable apartments."''</blockquote>
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[http://www.unitedforhomes.org/ United for Homes] is an advocacy project led by [[Nlihc.org|NLIHC, National Low Income Housing Coalition]]. Information from unitedforhomes.org:
<blockquote>'''''United for Homes''' is a national campaign comprised of individuals, elected officials, organizations, and agencies—in all 435 congressional districts—working to end homelessness, build a strong foundation, and strengthen communities. We are united by the belief that everyone deserves a decent, affordable home.'' ''United for Homes was created to end homelessness, help build a strong foundation and strengthen communities. Families–and especially children–who live in a stable, affordable homes have better health and education outcomes, have greater access to economic opportunities, and benefit from stronger communities.'' ''United for Homes urges reform of the mortgage interest deduction (MID)—a $70 billion a year tax write-off that largely benefits America’s highest income families—and a reinvestment of the savings in housing that serves families with the greatest, clearest, most pressing needs through solutions like the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and rental assistance programs. More than 2,300 national, state, and local organizations, as well as government officials, support United for Homes and our proposal.''</blockquote>
"Proposal To Foster Economic Growth Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs."<br/> April 14, 2017. [http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Recommendations_Senate-Banking_041417.pdf http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Recommendations_Senate-Banking_041417.pdf].<br/>
the voucher/credit sections of this are as follows:
"We recommend that Congress expand rental assistance programs, including equivalent programs on the tax side, to serve an additional 2.4 million low-income families over the next 10 years. This assistance should include:
*'''1 million new Housing Choice Vouchers for homeless and at-risk families with children'''. Vouchers are a proven tool in reducing homelessness and housing insecurity, as well as helping families climb the economic ladder. Housing vouchers help people with the lowest incomes afford housing in the private housing market by paying landlords the difference between what a household can afford to pay in rent and the rent itself, up to a reasonable amount. Administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing vouchers comprise the agency’s largest rental assistance program, assisting more than 2.2 million households.<br/>
*'''500,000 new “opportunity” Housing Choice Vouchers and mobility counseling to help poor families with children live in safe neighborhoods with access to good schools, good jobs, healthcare, and transit'''. We support giving 4 recipients of housing assistance more choice. While housing vouchers offer families the prospect of moving to areas of opportunity, families face many barriers to moving successfully. We therefore recommend that Congress also provide funding to create a mobility counseling pilot program. Pilot funds could be used to improve collaboration between agencies and align policies and administrative systems to eliminate barriers to moving. Funds could also be used to better recruit landlords and educate families about their housing options.<br/>
*A new project-based renter’s tax credit for the lowest income families. A renters’ tax credit could complement the existing Low Income Housing Tax Credit—which works well as a subsidy for affordable housing development, but is rarely sufficient on its own to push rents down to levels poor families can pay—and rental assistance programs such as Housing Choice Vouchers—which are highly effective, but meet only a modest share of the need. Under the proposal, Congress would authorize states to allocate a capped amount of credits to developments for renewable periods of up to 15 years, subject to federal income eligibility rules and state policy preferences. This would allow the credit to be delivered at a limited budgetary cost, but still provide subsidies large enough to help even the poorest families afford housing. Each state’s share of the credits would be set based on its population with a minimum allocation for small states.
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*Dolbeare, Cushing N. (2001). "[https://www.huduser.gov/Periodicals/CITYSCPE/VOL5NUM2/dolbeare.pdf Housing Affordability: Challenge and Context]." ''Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research''. Volume 5, Number 2, 2001. (published by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development • Office of Policy Development and Research). <br/> [https://www.huduser.gov/Periodicals/CITYSCPE/VOL5NUM2/dolbeare.pdf https://www.huduser.gov/Periodicals/CITYSCPE/VOL5NUM2/dolbeare.pdf].<br/> ''[cited by [Dreier 2016] as earliest proposal of an "EITC Housing Supplement"].''<br/>
*Dreier, Peter (2016). "[https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/housing-and-the-working-poor/ Housing and the Working Poor: Sky-high rents, not enough affordable homes—that’s our housing crisis in a nutshell. Here’s one idea to help the millions who can barely afford to keep a roof over their head]." ''Democracy Journal, ''29 March 2016. <br/> [https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/housing-and-the-working-poor/. https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/housing-and-the-working-poor/. ]<br/>
*Hauser, Daniel, and Juan Carlos Ordóñez. "A State Rent Assistance Program Would Strengthen Oregon Communities." article and report, September 23, 2019. [https://www.ocpp.org/2019/09/23/state-rent-assistance-program/ https://www.ocpp.org/2019/09/23/state-rent-assistance-program/].<br/>
*Hertz, Daniel. [http://cityobservatory.org/make-housing-vouchers-an-entitlement-we-can-afford-it/ "Make housing vouchers an entitlement—we can afford it."] City Observatory, 2016-01-05. [http://cityobservatory.org/make-housing-vouchers-an-entitlement-we-can-afford-it/ http://cityobservatory.org/make-housing-vouchers-an-entitlement-we-can-afford-it/]<br/>
*Hertz, Daniel. [http://cityobservatory.org/low-income-housing-tax/ "Why not make housing assistance to the low-income as easy as assistance to the high-income?"] City Observatory, 2016-01-21. [http://cityobservatory.org/low-income-housing-tax/. http://cityobservatory.org/low-income-housing-tax/. ]<br/>
*Galante, Carol, Carolina K. Reid, and Nathaniel Decker. [http://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/fair-tax-credit "The Fair Tax Credit: A Proposal For a Federal Assistance in Rental Credit to Support Low-Income Renters."] Terner Center for Housing Innovation, November 2016. [http://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/fair-tax-credit. http://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/fair-tax-credit. ]<br/>
*Jayapal, Susheela (2019). "Opinion: It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program." The Oregonian. Nov 03, 2019. [Jayapal is Multnomah County Commissioner for District 2, N and NE Portland]. [https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/11/opinion-its-time-for-a-statewide-rental-voucher-program.html https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/11/opinion-its-time-for-a-statewide-rental-voucher-program.html].<br/>
*Lubell, Jeffrey (2014). "[http://www.abtassociates.com/AbtAssociates/files/ce/ce7c306c-3cce-4dda-96c8-6098abe8a5ac.pdf Housing More People More Effectively through a Dynamic Housing Policy."] Bipartisan Policy Center, 17 December 2014. <br/> [http://www.abtassociates.com/AbtAssociates/files/ce/ce7c306c-3cce-4dda-96c8-6098abe8a5ac.pdf http://www.abtassociates.com/AbtAssociates/files/ce/ce7c306c-3cce-4dda-96c8-6098abe8a5ac.pdf].<br/>
*National Low Income Housing Coalition. "[http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Recommendations_Senate-Banking_041417.pdf Proposal To Foster Economic Growth Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs]." April 14, 2017. <br/> [http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Recommendations_Senate-Banking_041417.pdf http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Recommendations_Senate-Banking_041417.pdf].<br/>
*Ontario Association of Food Banks [OAFB 2017]. "Hunger Report 2017." <br/> [https://oafb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Hunger-Report-2017.pdf https://oafb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Hunger-Report-2017.pdf].<br/>
*Sard, Barbara, and Will Fischer. "[https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/renters-tax-credit-would-promote-equity-and-advance-balanced-housing-policy Renters’ Tax Credit Would Promote Equity and Advance Balanced Housing Policy]." Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 21 August 2013. <br/> [https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/renters-tax-credit-would-promote-equity-and-advance-balanced-housing-policy. https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/renters-tax-credit-would-promote-equity-and-advance-balanced-housing-policy. ]<br/>
*Stegman, Michael, Roberto Quercia, and Walter Davis. "T[https://www.brookings.edu/research/tax-policy-as-housing-policy-the-eitcs-potential-to-make-housing-more-affordable-for-working-families/ ax Policy as Housing Policy: The EITC’s Potential to Make Housing More Affordable for Working Families]." Brookings Institute, October 1 2003. <br/>
*Waldroupe, Amandda. "[http://news.streetroots.org/2017/06/23/pilot-project-portland-test-locally-funded-housing-vouchers Pilot project in Portland to test locally funded housing vouchers]." ''Street Roots,'' 23 Jun 2017.<br/> [http://news.streetroots.org/2017/06/23/pilot-project-portland-test-locally-funded-housing-vouchers http://news.streetroots.org/2017/06/23/pilot-project-portland-test-locally-funded-housing-vouchers].
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