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- Title
YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE HERE.
- Authors
Anderson, Courtney Lauren
- Abstract
The simplicity of defining affordable housing at thirty percent of household income provides a uniform barometer by which to measure whether or not a family or individual is spending more than an acceptable portion of funds on housing. However, it fails to capture what tradeoffs are given in exchange for spending this thirty percent, which is particularly relevant when analyzing the type of housing available to low-income and extremely low-income renters. Furthermore, the shortage of government- subsidized affordable housing units means that private landlords are filling in the affordable housing gap. The housing provided by private landlords is, by necessity, usually located in low-income areas. While this is often true of government-subsidized housing, there have been recent developments of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), most importantly the recognition of disparate impact under the Act and the assertion that the perpetuation of segregation by concentrating affordable housing in low- income areas may trigger this disparate impact. Living in higher-income areas provides numerous benefits to families, including increased educational opportunities for children. Yet, the continued use of a binary and formulaic approach to determine if housing is affordable more deeply entrenches the divide between "protected affordable housing," the government-subsidized housing that is the subject of fair housing progression, and "unprotected affordable housing, " housing that is lower in price and outside of the reach of the FHA developments. Inclusion of unprotected affordable housing in data collection efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other housing agencies will provide a more accurate picture of affordable housing in the Unites States, allowing for targeted solutions to address the affordable housing shortfall.
- Subjects
UNITED States; HOUSING policy; FAIR Housing Act of 1968 (U.S.); HOUSING discrimination laws; UNITED States. Dept. of Housing &; Urban Development; URBAN planning; TEXAS Department of Housing &; Community Development v. Inclusive Communities
- Publication
Fordham Urban Law Journal, 2017, Vol 44, Issue 2, p247
- ISSN
0199-4646
- Publication type
Article