September, 25 2017, 12:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Renee M. Willis, media@nlihc.org, (202) 662-1530 x247
Jessica Elle Rosa, jrosa@housingcenter.com, (203) 649-6553
New National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) Data Released Today Data indicates that 488,332 Affordable Housing Units are at Risk of Loss in the Next Five Years
Cheshire, CT.
New data released today in the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) shows that nearly 500,000 federally-assisted apartments or rental homes will reach the end of their current subsidy contracts and affordability restrictions for low-income families in the next five years. Nearly one in four of these units are funded by Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Previous experience suggests that as many as 8% (or 39,066) of these units could be permanently lost from the publicly-assisted and affordable housing stock, because their current owners could opt for the private market. President Trump's proposed budget cuts to rental programs managed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could potentially result in even more rental homes being lost due to insufficient funding.
The NHPD supports affordable housing preservation efforts by giving users the information they need to create strong plans for the preservation of publicly-assisted housing. Recently updated, the database allows users to estimate the size of the affordable housing stock in local areas and identify properties at risk of leaving the publicly-assisted housing stock, and develop preservation strategies.
Failing to preserve our nation's publicly-assisted affordable housing stock will further hurt the nation's lowest-income families at a time of unprecedented need. According to research by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), the nation already has a shortage of 7.4 million homes for extremely low-income renters. Failing to preserve the publicly-assisted affordable housing stock will also cost more money in the long-run. The Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) recently noted that the cost to rebuild and maintain these lost homes would be $6.4 billion over 50 years, compared to $4.8 billion to preserve and maintain the already-existing homes for 50 years.
NLIHC's CEO and President, Diane Yentel, noted that "we cannot afford to lose any of the federally-assisted housing stock. The rental housing crisis is hitting the lowest-income renters particularly hard, while federal resources for new subsidized housing is insufficient. Maintaining our current stock is critical."
The PAHRC and the NLIHC collaborate to produce the NHPD with support from HAI Group. Since its inception, the NHPD has provided more than 5,000 housing advocates, community leaders, affordable housing developers, researchers, and other housing-related stakeholders, access to an inventory of federally-assisted housing across the US that integrates information from multiple federal databases to help users identify affordable housing at-risk of being lost from the subsidized housing stock.
"HAI Group is proud to support the work PAHRC and NLIHC do when they join forces to enhance the NHPD," said HAI Group's President and CEO, Ed Malaspina. "The research is imperative to our members, as well as their advocates, developers, and other entities in the affordable housing community. Our members cannot afford to lose any of their stock, let alone the 488,332 units that are projected to be at risk of loss in the next five years. This is why we need to recognize the dire need to create sustainable plans for the preservation of housing."
To locate the federally-assisted rental properties approaching their expiration date, users can register for the NHPD, view an interactive map, and access preservation profiles by state and summary reports by county.a
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to ending America's affordable housing crisis. Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone. NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy and educates the public on housing needs and the strategies for solutions.
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