A Low-Income Housing Program Is Pouring Billions Into Housing Many People Can’t Afford

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has been used to build thousands of apartments across the US. However, many of these apartments are unaffordable for those who need them most. In Portland, Oregon, for example, the program has created a glut of apartments costing around $1,400 a month for a one-bedroom, which is unaffordable for someone earning the local minimum wage. Nearly 2,000 of Portland's subsidized units sat vacant and unused at last count. The same situation has repeated in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Denver. Economists have warned that the program is an expensive and ineffective way to house people who can't afford it. Researchers have found that the program doesn't subsidize housing deeply enough to reach truly low-income renters, and that it produces housing in markets and at income levels that already have a surplus. The program has been criticized for its complexity and for creating an industry of affordable-housing-focused developers, investors, and lawyers who profit off the tax credit. Some experts have recommended diverting the money into rental vouchers for tenants or changing the tax credit's rules to reward only developers who build units in genuinely short supply. However, these ideas have not been implemented, and the program continues to grow at a faster rate than rental assistance vouchers.