Price increases caused by housing assistance programs : housing assistance supply experiment / C. Peter Rydell, John E. Mulford, Lawrence Helbers.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Rydell, C. Peter.

Contributor:

Mulford, John E., 1949- joint author.

Helbers, Lawrence, 1949- joint author.

Series:

R (Rand Corporation)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rent subsidies--United States.

Rent subsidies.

Rent control--United States.

Rent control.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 28 pages).

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, [1980].

Summary:

Two contrasting methods of subsidizing existing housing are "housing allowances," which rely on the discipline of the market to control price increases, and "Section 8 assistance," which uses institutional regulations to control them. Contrary to preprogram predictions, evidence from actual program operations shows that the market outperforms regulation. Housing allowances cause a 2 percent increase, while Section 8 assistance causes a 26 percent increase, in the price of participants' housing. The Section 8 price increases mean that a substantial portion of the federal subsidy is diverted from participants to their landlords. To prevent that diversion, the Section 8 rules could be revised as follows: structure the subsidy so tenants pay the marginal rent dollar; pay the subsidy directly to tenants so they know they pay the marginal rent dollar; and remove the rent ceiling so it can no longer act as a rent target.

Notes:

"R-2677-HUD."

"Housing Assistance Supply Experiment."

"Sponsored by the Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development."

"October 1980."