HUD has released a new report highlighting the importance and impact of the Housing Credit. The report, Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves: Data on Tenants in LIHTC Units as of December 31, 2015, documents that 44.5 percent of Housing Credit properties’ tenants were extremely low-income in 2015 – serving those earning 30 percent of area median income or less. The report also shows that the vacancy rate of Housing Credit properties dropped from 5 percent vacant to 4 percent vacant between 2013 and 2015, indicating high demand for these homes.
A recent analysis by Freddie Mac also found that households who live in Housing Credit properties benefit from more stable and predictable rent increases. The study indicates that the average rent for Housing Credit properties is 38 percent lower than average market-rate rents. Across the nine markets analyzed in the study between 2012 and 2017, market-rate rents in the nine markets grew 5 percent on average per year while Housing Credit properties’ rents rose an average of 0.9 percent annually. The study points out that the substantial market-rate rent increases are causing serious financial hardship, particularly for lower-income households that qualified for but were unable to move into Housing Credit units because too few were available.