How Can Governments Adapt to Meet Affordable Housing Needs After Disasters?

Abstract

As severe disasters increase and intensify, federal, state, and local governments are continuing to adapt their responses. The needs of low-income renters are particularly acute. Three recent studies by some of the authors of this working paper analyze the intersection of environmental disasters and the shortage of affordable housing in the United States, investigating in particular the effect of flooding disasters on low-income renters. The studies find that severe flooding disasters increase eviction rates and lead to an increase in state allocation of affordable housing funding, but that fewer than half of states include disaster related provisions in their plans for allocating tax credits for affordable housing. These studies chart a path for future research and policy debate about how federal, state and local government can best support the housing needs of those vulnerable to disasters. Given states’ reliance on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program as a tool for disaster recovery, we recommend adjusting the LIHTC program and other sources of federal assistance to renters so that additional resources are predictably available to affected states after disasters. We also recommend encouraging states to include disaster mitigation and recovery provisions in their LIHTC allocation plans in order to spur affordable housing designs capable of better mitigating and responding to increasing local hazards. These studies demonstrate what is at stake when gaps between need and public programs persist, creating barriers to post-disaster recovery for low-income renters that exacerbates wealth and racial inequality. By outlining these policy gaps and their urgent consequences, these studies chart a path for future research and policy debate about how federal, state and local government can best support those vulnerable to disasters.