Our research team at Texas Housers created simple-to-use handouts that demonstrate the great need for low-income housing in our state, broken down at the local level. In many Texas cities, low-income workers constitute an increasingly large portion of the local workforce, but there are not enough affordable units available to house them. Many low-income households rely on federal supports, such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), to help them gain access to housing. However, because of our state’s system for choosing which neighborhoods to distribute tax credits to and its lack of guardrails to prevent landlords and neighborhood associations from discriminating against voucher holders, LIHTC properties and HCV units tend to locate in high poverty, low opportunity neighborhoods.
Our handouts show that there is not enough affordable housing to go around in Texas. In addition to more affordable housing units, we need better regulation at the state and local level so that federal housing programs intended to help low-income people live in a safe, decent home in a neighborhood of their choice can function properly. Each handout includes information for the State of Texas, Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Take a look below.