Housing for the poor

The nation’s leading housing agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), reported in April 2015 that more than 7.7 million very low - income families have “worst case housing needs ”because they do not receive government housing assistance and paid more than half of their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both. But how can that be? There are at least 160 federal programs at 20 different federal agencies providing assistance and affordable housing for the poor! $270 billion in 2012. There are block grants to states, special deals for mortgages, vouchers for rent assistance, thousands of regulations on special housing projects—you name it—and there are eager government employees making a good living helping the poor. If you’ve wondered why government won’t do much to lower the costs of health care by taking over insurance, just look at how government takes care of the poor who need housing.

 

160 entities involved in housing 

Chart book

Federal rental assistance