The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) is the most successful federal program for the creation and preservation of affordable housing across the country. One of its main strengths is that it allows states to adapt the program to meet their specific housing needs.
Because of this, the housing tax credit has been able to create safe and affordable housing to serve a diverse group of Americans—from working families and seniors to the chronically homeless and others with special needs—in rural, suburban, and urban locations. It’s also been critical for preserving the affordability of older housing stock and bringing historic landmarks back to life with new purpose.
The following articles detail eight housing tax credit developments nationwide that exemplify the diversity of the program and those it serves. Without the LIHTC, these projects might not exist.
We’ve also highlighted another important aspect of these projects—the estimated number of jobs each has created based on data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB’s economic-impact model estimates that housing tax credit development supports approximately 96,000 jobs in a typical year: For every 1,000 rental apartments developed, about 1,130 jobs are supported annually. Almost two-thirds of the jobs are in the construction sector, with the rest in industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and business services.