Abt Global’s Post

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Family Options Study and the Moving to Opportunity Demonstration have shown that #StableHousing through Housing Choice Voucher (HCB) program subsidies can yield lasting benefits for families. This white paper from Abt Global evaluates the Direct Rental Assistance (DRA) approach as an alternative method. The objective is to determine the future direction of HUD rental assistance. #HUD #RentalAssistance #AffordableHousing

“Universal Rent Control Speech” by Claude 3.5 Sonnet 9:20 pm PDT, Friday, July 12, 2024 Rent control in place, Housing costs kept within reach, Peace of mind ensues. Please write a brief-but-fiery speech calling for the implementation of universal rent control measures, along the lines outlined in the haiku. Here's a brief, impassioned speech calling for universal rent control: Citizens, our communities are under siege! Skyrocketing rents are forcing families from their homes and destroying the fabric of our neighborhoods. We cannot stand idly by while landlords and developers grow rich off our misery. It's time for universal rent control! We demand limits on rent increases, protections against unjust evictions, and guarantees of affordable housing for all. No more sleepless nights wondering if next month's rent hike will leave us homeless. No more choosing between food and shelter. Rent control is not just a policy - it's a lifeline. It's peace of mind for the worker, the student, the retiree. It's stability for our children and hope for our future. The naysayers will cry that the market should decide. I say the market has failed us! Housing is a human right, not a luxury for the privileged few. Join me in calling for universal rent control now. For our neighbors, for our communities, for justice - the time to act is now! Would you like me to expand on any part of this speech or discuss the potential impacts of rent control policies?

Guaranteed Income and Rapid Re-Housing programs are essential services that both support low-income families, and each can borrow ideas from the other to improve outcomes. Our experts explain how in this blog. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/enU9vF6u

It's a great question: What should the future of HUD rental assistance should look like? To explore how Direct Rental Assistance could lead to better community outcomes, Abt's Jill Khadduri, Hannah Thomas, and Meryl Finkel authored a new whitepaper. #HUD #RentalAssistance #HousingPolicy

We cannot protect those most at risk if we are not looking at ensuring the ultimate safety net is in place – safe and secure housing. For over 40 years yourtown’s San Miguel has been doing just that in Western Sydney. A residential parenting program for young parents up to the age of 25 and their children who have experienced trauma and are at risk of harm, San Miguel is an important intervention that provides holistic support - from accommodation to specialist and intensive support and hands on development: https://ytwn.in/45FepIl By paying a small amount of rent, signing a rental agreement and having home inspections, families develop budgeting skills, an understanding of landlord expectations and a rental history which can assist families to obtain a private lease when transitioning to independent housing. It's based on this experience that we are advocating for the critical housing needs of families be considered in the redesign on the Family Preservation model in NSW:https://ytwn.in/3xl4Bqp

Section 8 rental assistance has lost ground over time due to rising rents and it’s dependence on annual funding from Congress. We need to increase the amount of rental assistance available to ensure affordable homes for our nation’s lowest income families, especially in LIHTC developments. https://lnkd.in/dStz9URX This can be done by: ➡ Congress enacting the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which will increase the overall production and preservation of LIHTC units + make changes to the program to make it easier to finance units for the lowest income families ➡ Provide more Section 8 rental assistance so that LIHTC properties can continue their great success at serving the most underserved families.

From coast to coast, the foundation of a thriving community is affordable housing. Making sure hardworking families have a safe and reliable place to live is essential to economic growth and to quality of life. Unfortunately, a chronic lack of supply and soaring demand has deepened America’s affordable housing shortage. That is why Congress should enact the bipartisan bill — the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) — proposed by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-ILL.) and Suzan Delbene (D-WASH.). Every community in America is impacted by this crisis and the growing bipartisan support for the AHCIA shows it.

Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is a HUD program aimed at preserving and improving the nation's public housing stock. RAD provides a legal framework for public housing authorities (PHAs) to convert their public housing subsidy into more sustainable, long-term rental assistance contracts. This shift from traditional public housing funding to Section 8 housing assistance allows PHAs to leverage private investment and secure the necessary capital for renovations, repairs, and other critical improvements. By facilitating this conversion, RAD plays a crucial role in addressing the chronic underfunding of public housing while ensuring that low-income residents have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. RAD is particularly significant for legal professionals in the affordable housing field because it involves navigating complex regulatory and financial aspects of the program. This includes understanding the intricacies of property financing, Section 8 vouchers, and various contractual agreements between PHAs, developers, and tenants. Additionally, RAD underscores the importance of legal expertise in facilitating partnerships, securing funding, and ensuring compliance with HUD guidelines to advance the preservation and expansion of affordable housing options for low-income individuals and families. Join us in exploring the impact of RAD on affordable housing preservation and improvement. Follow along, share your thoughts, and tag friends who share your passion for affordable housing! 🏘️💼 #AffordableHousing #RADProgram #HousingImprovement #LegalExperts #HousingForAll #ABCsofAffordableHousing 🤝🏠

This is a fail Hillsborough County, Florida and a lack of understanding how affordable housing is funded. The program which waives impact fees for affordable housing projects has “helped create 1,248 affordable homes over the past five years with a relatively small cost to taxpayers.” In an ideal situation, the free market would provide for sufficient affordable housing but zoning restrictions inhibit the ability to construct enough housing. The constrained supply combined with the high cost of land and construction makes it impossible to build affordable housing without subsidy or incentive. “[Joshua] Wostal and Commissioner Michael Owen argued the program isn’t a good deal for county taxpayers who pay for the waived impact fees through property taxes.” — I can absolutely understand this position, superficially. The fee waiver helps build housing for the 4 services workers needed for every 1 high-paying job who won’t have a place to live and eventually risk these services not being provided; i.e., teachers, policemen, servers, etc. See Jackson Hole where cafes and museums have had to close due to a lack of workers because there is no affordable place for workers to live. The 1,248 units is a drop in the bucket compared to the housing that is needed for greater affordability. “It’s my position that we should not be padding developers’ pockets with taxpayer dollars,” said Owen. — Do developers need incentives to build affordable housing? Unequivocally yes unless something fundamentally changes. Do they pad their pockets building subsidized housing? No. Boo. #hillsborough #affordablehousing

"#Landlords filed more than 177,000 #eviction cases in the #Houston, #Dallas, #Austin and #FortWorth areas in 2023...Some $1.8 billion in federal rent relief flowed to #Texas over the course of the pandemic, helping more than 265,000 families keep a roof over their heads... Texas shuttered its statewide #rent relief program last summer along with a sister program aimed at diverting tenants from eviction. Most local governments, too, have closed their rental assistance programs for lack of federal funds...A record 2.1 million renters, ...are “cost-burdened,”...meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities...Texas legislators left renters out of a $12.7 billion property tax-cut package that included $5.6 billion in direct relief for homeowners," https://lnkd.in/gHd43Mqw