TY - JOUR
T1 - Shaping a Healthier LIHTC Housing Stock
T2 - Examining the Role of States’ Qualified Allocation Plans
AU - Ahrentzen, Sherry
AU - Dearborn, Lynne
AU - Momen-Heravi, Ali
AU - Sadoughi, Arezou
N1 - Our advisory team was indispensable for bouncing ideas off, rereading drafts, and gaining insight. We appreciate the time, wisdom and effort of Anne Ray, Casius Pealer, Nancy Mueller, Holly Holtzen, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Gina Ciganik. Jenifer Harrison turned several of our initial sketchy diagrams into graceful graphic displays. Comments and suggestions from the three journal reviewers helped sharpen and clarify our earlier draft. Support for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Award ID #74031). The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. In addition, we are also grateful for funding support of the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at University of Florida, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Provost’s Humanities and Social Science Faculty Funds.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The physical environment has a powerful impact on our physical and mental health, especially in our homes. One vehicle for advancing a healthier affordable housing stock is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The aim of this research was to examine the manner and extent to which various housing quality provisions pertaining to health are embedded in the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) of the LIHTC program. From content analysis of the QAP of each of the 50 states and a survey of state housing finance agencies (HFAs), results revealed that: the most frequently required healthy housing provisions address housing quality, whereas the most incentivized ones address proximity to neighborhood services and amenities; few states bundle high-priority provisions relevant to asthma, respiratory health and toxic exposures, which are major health concerns for vulnerable children; the top two motivators for considering healthy housing provisions in the LIHTC process were “championship and initiation by agency staff” and “learning of similar practices in other states”; among other findings. Recommendations are made for HFA practices, and directions for future research are proposed.
AB - The physical environment has a powerful impact on our physical and mental health, especially in our homes. One vehicle for advancing a healthier affordable housing stock is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The aim of this research was to examine the manner and extent to which various housing quality provisions pertaining to health are embedded in the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) of the LIHTC program. From content analysis of the QAP of each of the 50 states and a survey of state housing finance agencies (HFAs), results revealed that: the most frequently required healthy housing provisions address housing quality, whereas the most incentivized ones address proximity to neighborhood services and amenities; few states bundle high-priority provisions relevant to asthma, respiratory health and toxic exposures, which are major health concerns for vulnerable children; the top two motivators for considering healthy housing provisions in the LIHTC process were “championship and initiation by agency staff” and “learning of similar practices in other states”; among other findings. Recommendations are made for HFA practices, and directions for future research are proposed.
KW - Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
KW - healthy housing
KW - housing quality
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U2 - 10.1080/10511482.2022.2086896
DO - 10.1080/10511482.2022.2086896
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133594954
SN - 1051-1482
VL - 33
SP - 1206
EP - 1227
JO - Housing Policy Debate
JF - Housing Policy Debate
IS - 5
ER -