Reports/Op-Eds Highlight Impact of Housing Credit

A new publication from the NYU Furman Center details the Housing Credit as the federal government’s primary financing tool for the construction and preservation of affordable housing. Since 1986, the Housing Credit has generated a host of benefits for local communities, including increased surrounding home values and lower crime rates. The publication also shows that Housing Credit tenants have access to better schools.

Additionally, the AARP Public Policy Institute recently released a report highlighting the importance of Housing Credit properties for the elderly population. The report finds that 30 percent of housing cost-burdened households are ages 62 and older, making the Housing Credit a source of much-needed affordable housing for low-income seniors.

Op-Eds Highlight Need for Housing Credit Expansion

In an op-ed in the Topeka Capital-Journal, Patrick Michaelis, President of the Kansas Housing Association and Vice President of Midwest Housing Equity Group, writes that, “Though Kansas is often thought of as an affordable place to live, stagnating wages have left too many Kansans struggling to afford their homes.” He calls on legislators to support the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, making the case that, “now is the time to strengthen and expand the Housing Credit as a proven tool that improves our economy, bringing affordable homes and critically-needed jobs to communities across Kansas and the country.”

Enterprise Community Partners President and CEO Terri Ludwig advocated for an expansion of the Housing Credit in an op-ed in the Huffington Post earlier this month, touting the program’s strong history as a model public-private partnership that ensures accountability and results. “It is essentially the only tool we have to encourage private investment in affordable housing,” writes Ludwig. “The strong bipartisan support for the Housing Credit in Congress, in the Administration, and across state and local governments is a testament to its thirty-year track record of success.”

LISC President & CEO Maurice Jones and National Equity Fund President & CEO Joe Hagan also wrote in the Huffington Post about the need to ensure that the Housing Credit remains robust and flexible: "It gets rid of blight. It creates jobs. And it gives people a chance for a better way of life."