affordable housing

How to Provide Affordable Housing for Low-Income Households in Urban Areas.
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SUBJECT: How to Provide Affordable Housing for Low-Income Households in Urban Areas.
According to recent statistics, the supply of decent housing for low-income households in the state especially in urban areas is dwindling. Additionally, the number of households that cannot afford their rental apartments is on the rise. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development says that housing is unaffordable if a family spends over 30% of its annual earnings on housing. This means that the state’s dream of offering decent and affordable homes for all its residents has not been achieved. What is more, the lack of affordable housing is burdensome for poor families because it leaves them with little income to spend on transportation, clothing, healthcare, and food. Further, the problem spills on to the entire society because of the negative effects on public health (Freeman, 2002). It is therefore imperative for the state to develop a public policy that will ensure all low-income households in urban areas are housed.
There are a number of policy measures that the state can adopt to tackle the problem. Key among them is to offer rental assistance programs by subsidizing house production and also offering demand-side help such as rent vouchers. For instance, subsidizing the rent of the available homes is ideal since it is cheaper than constructing new houses. It will also go a long way in stabilizing the housing market thus allowing low-income families to compete in a tough market.

The other policy program that the state should consider is to start a program that offers mortgaged loans to low-income families to assist such families to buy homes. Also, the state should revise its land use and associated policies because they greatly affect the location and supply of cheap housing in urban areas (Katz et al., 2003).
References
Freeman, L. (2002). America’s affordable housing crisis: A contract unfulfilled. American Journal of Public Health, 92(5), 709-712.
Katz, B., Turner, M. A., Brown, K. D., Cunningham, M., & Sawyer, N. (2003). Rethinking local affordable housing strategies: lessons from 70 years of policy and practice. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institute.