Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves

Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the largest federal program for creating and preserving affordable rental housing for low-income households. Under the program, rental property owners receive tax credits in exchange for maintaining federally set income and rent restrictions. Although the LIHTC is a federal program, state housing agencies administer most aspects of the program, including allocation of credits and compliance with rent and income rules. This structure, with administration primarily at the state level, has allowed states to focus on their individual housing needs but has limited an understanding of who the program serves nationwide.

In order to learn more about the tenants served in this program, Congress, through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, required state housing agencies to provide information on LIHTC tenants to HUD. Using this information, HUD has released Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves, the first national compilation of demographic and economic data about tenants of rental housing built or rehabilitated with LIHTCs. This initial report relays the type of tenant information — race and ethnicity, disability status, family composition and age, household income, monthly rental payments and use of rental assistance — that provides a useful picture of the program’s beneficiaries.