2012 Theses Master's

The Balance of Affordable Housing in New York City: A Spatial Analysis of the City's Assisted Affordable Housing Landscape . . .

Shanklin, Trevor

This study focuses on government assisted affordable rental housing development and policy in New York City. An initial survey of currently assisted affordable housing shares in the city sought to understand the trends of government sponsored developments to determine if there was a spatial imbalance of assisted affordable housing in the city. Pursuant to this survey an analysis of rental gaps between maximum rental ceilings as a derivative of area median incomes (AMI) and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the most successful housing program in the expansion of assisted affordable housing units. Those found throughout the private marketplace were determined in an attempt to uncover inefficiencies in the LIHTC program that would compromise New York City's ability to achieve a spatial balance of assisted affordable housing in the future. Findings show that there is a failure in the current application of the LIHTC program in New York where negative rental gaps were found consistently throughout New York City. This fact limits the ability for the city to satisfy its affordable housing goals of both the New Housing Marketplace Plan and PlaNYC 2030 in a manner that maximizes benefits for all stakeholders. Recommendations were presented that included a revised AMI calculation method and locational targeting measures that would assist in correcting these inefficiencies.