HUD Policy Leans Dangerously Close to Federal Rent Control – MHI Responds

Following the release of the Department of Housing and HUD’s FY 24 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Income Limits determinations on April 1, MHI joined a coalition of housing trade associations objecting to the updates. The changes can decrease the number of tenants who qualify for LIHTC-funded and other federally-supported housing. While the change in the income limit calculation is not rent regulation in the traditional sense, it limits the ability of LIHTC housing providers to recover costs through rent in a high-cost environment – which many see as a distinction without a difference. Research has shown that rent caps create economic and racial inequality in communities, limit the supply of affordable housing and exacerbate the very problem it purports to solve by causing rents to increase. At a time when affordable housing is a pressing need across the country, limiting the effectiveness of LIHTC could damage the nation’s most successful program to create affordable housing.