What Does Subsidized Housing Mean?

Subsidized housing is funded at least in part by the government.

The federal government and some states fund programs that offer subsidized housing--dwellings that are meant to be affordable to low income persons--to qualified citizens.

Types

The U.S. government offers three main types of subsidized housing: private and public housing and Section 8 vouchers. Private subsidized housing gets funding from the government to lower prices. Public dwellings are low-cost apartments managed by the government. Section 8 vouchers allow people to use a housing credit toward any qualifying home, if the landlord accepts this as payment.

Function

The U.S. government believes that housing should cost no more than 30 percent of a individual's income. Housing costs above this limit start cutting into other essentials, such as medical and food budgets.

Interesting Fact

The U.S. government estimates that at any given time, 12 million people are living in places they cannot afford and need at least part of their housing costs subsidized, also called rental assistance.

Potential

Critics of direct housing subsidies believe they are inefficient ways to get the private market to build affordable housing units. As a result, Congress developed the Low Income Housing Tax Credit in 1986 to reduce the amount of debt affordable real estate developers need to take on to create low-income housing.

Tips

Persons interested in finding subsidized housing can search for properties and get application information from the U.S. Housing and Developments website.

References

• U.S. Housing and Urban Development: Low-rent apartment search
• U.S. Housing and Urban Development: Rental Assistance
• U.S. Housing and Urban Development: Affordable Housing

Resources

• U.S. HUD Affordable Housing Application Information
• U.S. Housing and Urban Development: How Do Housing Tax Credits Work?