Yesterday’s post gave a list of ways municipalities can get involved in housing assistance programs. But what are the intentions that drive such activity?
Tried-and-true programs like Section 8 provide subsidies that travel. In this case, the intention is to provide supplemental housing assistance to a low-income parent while giving them the choice of which neighborhood amenities suit them best. By contrast, down payment assistance is an effort to help renters become homeowners. And the new Bring it Home program allows the city to direct funds to those in need within its boundaries.
If you look at the aid in terms of who is helped, you realize there are gaps in the programs. The dual-income service worker family would not be able to afford to live in a western suburb without aid. This is confirmation of the missing middle problem. Nearly every tool either requires income too low to qualify this household or produces units priced above what they can afford. The only tools that reach them at all do so partially and conditionally.
Depending on a city’s objectives, it may be fruitful to look at intentions amongst subgroups within the population.
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