Affordable Housing
A variety of government-subsidized programs provide affordable housing so that low income households can afford a decent place to live. Our research examines the availability of affordable housing, evaluates programs that encourage the production of affordable housing, and identifies the effects of subsidized housing on surrounding neighborhoods. Our Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP) uses a combination of data sources from public and private agencies to track and map current subsidized housing units across New York City, and evaluate strategies for developing new affordable housing.
In February 2010, the Furman Center launched the Institute for Affordable Housing Policy to meet increasing demand for policy analysis and innovative solutions. The Institute hosts events and publishes policy briefs and working papers on pressing matters related to rental housing policy and housing finance.
Current Research Agenda
In a time of shrinking government budgets and high rent burdens, understanding the impacts of subsidized housing programs is imperative.
Our current reseearch projects include:
- Understanding Opt-Outs From Subsidized Housing Programs
- Utilities And Subsidized Housing: How Does Who Pays The Bills Affect Energy Consumption
- What Is The Profile Of The Residents In Low-Income Tax Credit Buildings?
- Where Do Tenants Move After Opt-Outs
View all Affordable Housing research projects »
For a list of all the Furman Center’s current research projects, download our Current Research Agenda.
Featured Researcher
Ingrid Gould Ellen is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at New York University’s Wagner School and Co-Director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Her research centers on neighborhoods, housing, and residential segregation. Professor Ellen is author of Sharing America’s Neighborhoods: The Prospects for Stable Racial Integration (Harvard University Press, 2000) and has been published in such journals as Urban Studies, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, and Housing Policy Debate. She is currently undertaking a national study of economic change in U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, she is studying the interaction between investments in schools and subsidized housing and examining why some parcels of land remain underdeveloped, even in hot markets.
Latest News & Events
- News Updates
Furman Center Receives MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions - Events
Passport to Opportunity: Innovative Strategies to Increase the Cost Effectiveness of Housing Choice - News Updates
Furman Center Researchers Present Papers at APPAM - Events
Opportunities for Affordable Housing Preservation: Strategies for the Future
Latest Publications
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Working Paper
American Murder Mystery Revisited: Do Housing Voucher Households Cause Crime?
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has shifted resources from public housing to the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV or “voucher”) program. There were 2.2 million vouchers nationwide in 2008, compared to 1.2 million public housing units. Although the academic and policy communities have welcomed this shift, community opposition to vouchers can be fierce, due to perceptions that voucher-holders will both reduce property values and heighten crime. Despite the public concerns, however, there is virtually no research that systematically examines the link between the presence of voucher holders in a neighborhood and crime. Our paper uses longitudinal, neighborhood-level crime and voucher utilization data in 10 large U.S. cities over 12 years, and finds voucher-holders moving to a neighborhood does not, in fact, increase crime. We do see, on the other hand, that households with vouchers tend to move to communities when crime rates are rising.
Ingrid Gould Ellen, Michael C. Lens, Katherine O’Regan. November 2011.
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White Papers
State of New York City’s Subsidized Housing: 2011
To reduce the financial burden that low- and moderate-income families in New York City face, city, state and federal agencies have employed numerous subsidy programs to encourage private developers to own and manage affordable housing developments. With the cooperation of government housing agencies, the Furman Center created the Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP)—an online searchable database containing information on the nearly 235,000 units of privately-owned, subsidized affordable rental housing in New York City developed with major subsidy programs. This report is the first comprehensive analysis of properties in our SHIP database, and identifies opportunities to preserve affordable housing in the coming years.
Jaclene Begley, Caitlyn Brazill, Vincent Reina, Max Weselcouch. September 2011.
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Data Brief
New York Quarterly Housing Update 2011: 1st Quarter
In an analysis of first quarter housing indicators, the Furman Center finds that housing prices declined between the last quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011 in every borough except Queens, where prices remained essentially flat. The volume of home sales continued to decline in every borough compared to the previous year. The Quarterly Housing Update is unique among New York City housing reports because it incorporates sales data, new construction indicators, and foreclosures. It also presents a repeat sales index for each borough to capture price appreciation while controlling for housing quality.
The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. May 2011.
affordable housing, housing prices, mortgage foreclosures, neighborhoods
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White Papers
Overview of Affirmative Marketing and Implications for the Westchester Fair Housing Settlement
This report summarizes a Feb. 14, 2011 Institute for Affordable Housing Policy roundtable on affirmative marketing of affordable housing in Westchester County. The Furman Center received grant funding to provide independent research and expert assistance on implementation of a federal housing settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, Westchester must develop at least 750 affordable housing units in municipalities with overwhelmingly white populations, and must affirmatively market this housing in geographic areas with significant non-white populations. The roundtable and this review explores strategies to identify and reach potential residents, with an aim of providing insight for Westchester County in the implementation of its obligations under the settlement, as well as to provide guidance to other municipalities that share the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing.
John Infranca. April 2011.
affordable housing, fair housing, housing, neighborhoods, race, segregation
