The Preservation of Subsidized Housing

There is an abundance of research highlighting the lack of affordable rental housing in the U.S.  Given this scarcity, it is all the more important to understand the future of the existing subsidized affordable rental housing stock.

The federal government has made a direct investment in increasing the supply of affordable housing through programs that have subsidized the development of more than 6 million units of rental housing. Some of these units receive ongoing rental subsidies that provide dedicated apartments for low-income households. When subsidies expire, both the affordability of the units and the public investment in the property and ongoing subsidy are at risk of being lost.

This report aims to analyze what we know about subsidy expirations and the preservation of supply-side affordable housing, and it identifies gaps in our knowledge about preservation.