Comment on Kirk McClure's "The low-income housing tax credit program goes Mainstream and moves to the suburbs"

• Published in: Housing policy debate Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 473 - 490
• Main Author: Rengert, Kristopher M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2006; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Affordable housing; Best practice; Housing assistance programs; Low income groups; Low income housing credit; Low-income housing; Poverty; Public housing; Studies; Suburban areas; Tax credits
• ISSN: 1051-1482; 2152-050X
• DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2006.9521579

McClure provides a useful and interesting analysis of how the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the primary federal vehicle supporting the creation of new affordable housing for very low income families, has evolved over its first 20 years. He finds that it has grown more financially efficient and that it places an increasing share of its units in suburban and low-poverty census tracts. I examine the same LIHTC activity, but aggregated to the state rather than the national level. I identify and discuss differences among states with regard to how well they use the LIHTC program to support affordable housing in suburban and low-poverty census tracts. I advocate for more detailed research into the underlying factors and administrative practices that lead to this variation, as well as for the creation of a clearinghouse on best practices to help states learn from one another.