Housing Choice Vouchers, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Federal Poverty Deconcentration Goal

Abstract

Poverty deconcentration has gained prominence as a federal housing policy goal during the past decade. The authors address the issue of whether the interaction between the two dominant programs aimed at housing for low-income persons in the United States—the Housing Choice Voucher and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)—tends to support this goal by examining three questions: How extensively are vouchers used in LIHTC developments? Does the pattern of usage vary across counties and metropolitan areas? Does the use of vouchers in LIHTC units result in concentrations of voucher holders in poverty areas, contrary to poverty deconcentration goals? The authors find that LIHTC units are important sources of housing opportunity for voucher holders in some areas. However, they also find evidence that LIHTC location patterns in economically distressed areas known as Qualified Census Tracts may reinforce existing poverty concentrations.