The report emphasizes the need for improved policies to preserve the nation’s federally assisted housing stock, including increased annual appropriations and stronger preservation protections.
The Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC), the research division of HAI Group's family of companies, and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released the 2024 Picture of Preservation report. The joint report analyzes data from the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) to assess the current state of federally assisted housing and the preservation risks these properties face.
Key challenges identified include:
- Expiring affordability and eligibility restrictions
- Deteriorating physical conditions of properties
- Significant reductions in federal funding for housing preservation
The report underscores the importance of addressing these risks to preserve the existing stock of federally assisted housing, a critical component of expanding affordable housing for the nation’s lowest-income renters.
“The U.S. is short a total of 7.3 million homes affordable and available to the lowest-income renters,” said NLIHC Senior Vice President of Research Andrew Aurand, one of the report’s authors. “Given the shortage of affordable rental units in the private market, federally assisted rental homes are a vital source of stable housing for extremely low-income renters. However, these homes require sustained or renewed funding commitments to ensure future affordability and habitability as buildings age and existing rent restrictions and tenant eligibility requirements expire or come up for renewal.”
The 2024 Picture of Preservation report reveals several critical findings about the state of federally assisted housing:
Federally supported rental homes: 5 million rental homes, or 10% of the nation’s rental housing stock, are supported by federally funded project-based rental subsidies. The average federally assisted home has been affordable for 36 years.
Net gain in federally assisted homes: In recent years, 104,088 homes were added to the federally assisted housing stock, but 71,096 homes were lost, resulting in a net gain of only 33,992 homes.
Exit risks: Affordability restrictions are set to expire for 374,497 federally assisted homes in the next five years, representing 7% of the stock. Compared to 2019, non-renewable subsidies and for-profit ownership are more prevalent among expiring homes, suggesting that these properties may face additional challenges in preservation. The growing reliance on non-renewable subsidies and increasing for-profit ownership suggest that properties expiring in the next five years may face additional barriers to preservation.
Public housing depreciation risk: Approximately 267,000 public housing homes (30%) failed their most recent Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspection and likely require immediate investment. This is double the number of homes that failed in 2019, with one in five homes failing two or more REAC inspections. One in five public housing homes also failed two or more of their latest REAC scores, up from 9% in 2019.
Loss of HUD funding: Since 2010, key HUD project-based housing programs have lost a cumulative $21.3 billion in appropriations compared to the amount that would have been available had funding kept pace with inflation.
The report calls for better policies to support the preservation of these homes, including:
- Adequate appropriations for federal housing programs
- Stronger preservation protections to ensure continued affordability and physical quality
- Reinvestment in public housing capital needs and strengthened preservation policies for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program
Without Congressional action, the report warns that many homes could be lost from the affordable housing stock, leading to increased housing instability for the lowest-income renters.
“Affordable housing plans must balance new construction and preservation to reduce the growing shortage of affordable homes available to the lowest income families,” said Kelly McElwain, PAHRC Manager of Research and Industry Intelligence and one of the report’s authors. “Providing sufficient funding for federal housing programs is essential to expanding the supply of affordable homes, ensuring current tenants remain stably housed in safe, quality homes, and safeguarding public investments.”
You can download the full report here. Here, you can access a dashboard summarizing key data from the report at the state, county, and congressional district levels. To learn more, register for a virtual event on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
About PAHRC
The Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC), a nonprofit, is a member of the HAI Group family of companies. PAHRC spotlights the impact, outcomes, and value that affordable housing brings to families and communities. We deliver data and tools that help researchers, practitioners, and advocates build evidence-based cases for why affordable housing matters. For more information about PAHRC, please visit www.pahrc.org.
About NLIHC
Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is dedicated to achieving racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice. For more information about NLIHC, please visit www.nlihc.org.
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