Affordable Housing Construction:
Recent research emphasizes the urgent need to improve affordable housing accessibility, safety, and quality while addressing poverty and economic mobility. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on US affordable housing construction. Our study focused on barriers to and enablers of affordable housing construction in Upstate New York through interviews with ten construction industry professionals. We identified obstacles like funding shortages, regulatory complexities, and administrative hurdles. Enablers included increased advocacy, strategic tax credit use, and reduced zoning restrictions. Although a housing supply-demand imbalance persists, emerging solutions and collaborative efforts signal a promising, equitable, and sustainable future.
About 70% of extremely low-income families are severely cost-burdened, spending more than 50% of their income on rent and utilities, and only one in four extremely low-income families receive assistance. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines affordable housing as “housing in which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities”. However, this definition stands in stark contrast to the reality faced by millions of Americans, where the supply of affordable housing woefully lags demand, forcing individuals into unaffordable housing or, worse yet, homelessness, which is the reality of over half a million people on any given night.
While industry professionals are making efforts to address the affordable housing deficit, statistics paint a grim picture of a crisis that shows no signs of abating. Housing costs continue to surge, far outpacing household incomes, a phenomenon that disproportionately affects lower-income individuals residing in areas with an inadequate supply of social or public housing. A glaring example lies in San Francisco, where the poorest 5% of residents earn a meager approximate monthly income of USD 650, while the bottom 5% of rental rates are around USD 1500 per month. This incongruity stresses the stark reality that the existing supply of affordable housing is grossly insufficient.
Affordable housing should be built at a price that does not cost so much that it prohibits its occupants from meeting other basic living costs or threatens their enjoyment of basic human rights while being adequate in quality and location. There is a perception that housing affordability is just an issue in big cities, but housing affordability is just as big a problem in cities and counties around Upstate New York. For example, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany are experiencing housing crises fueled by rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing.
In New York State, 73% of renter households are extremely cost-burdened; 75% fall into this category in Rochester, and there is a shortage of 655,940 affordable rental homes available for extremely low-income renters. Further, the annual household income needed to afford a two-bedroom market rental home in New York State is USD 83,375.
In this study, the barriers and enablers of affordable housing will be critically analyzed, including the project factors that affect the construction process. The findings of this study can help decision-makers and key stakeholders in the construction industry as they work towards building more affordable housing and combating the housing shortage.
One of the identified barriers to affordable housing construction is land acquisition and issues with building on brownfield sites due to unexpected levels of contamination. Further, there is a lack of correspondence between the development of affordable housing units versus the actual geographic need for development and expansion. Land-use regulations are often too restrictive or too relaxed and sometimes have political implications. For example, residents oppose plans for affordable housing in their neighborhoods due to fear of increased congestion, decreased property value, and a strain on public infrastructure like schools, power, and parking availability.
As the need for affordable housing keeps growing, contractors need to find alternative ways to build inexpensive and sustainable homes to improve the quality of life for people. According to Kimberlin et al., the two most significant sources of subsidized rental housing in the United States are the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. However, they have some shortcomings. For example, the LIHTC program is only available for new construction or rehabilitation, eliminating funds to fix up old affordable homes that are no longer livable.