Income-based housing benefit: Difference between revisions

 

An '''income-based housing benefit'''  is a government program which provides some type of financial or tax support for housing use to individuals who qualify on the basis of low income.  By contrast, other major housing programs in the United States provide benefits to homeowners, typically regardless of income (e.g. [[Home_mortgage_interest_deduction|home mortgage interest deduction]]), or help fund development of housing (e.g. [[Low-Income_Housing_Tax_Credit|Low-Income Housing Tax Credit]]), or help fund housing-related service providers (e.g. homelessness programs). 

"It could be worth exploring how a housing add-on to the EITC could be designed initially to address the affordability problems of most working families. For example, such an add-on could cover one-half of housing costs in excess of 30 percent of income, capped at the relevant payment standard or FMR in the jurisdiction. Such a program, if fully implemented, could assist a substantial portion of the 12.7 million cost-burdened families who receive at least one-half of their income from work. In 1999 there were 11.3 million cost-burdened working households with incomes below 120 percent of area median and the total gap between 30 percent of their incomes and their housing costs (or the relevant FMR, whichever is lower) amounted to more than $19 billion annually."

 

 

=== [Stegman et al, Brookings Institute 2013] ===