NHPF Survey Compendium

Survey: Affordable Housing Stakeholders Analyze a Decade of Housing Policy Housing industry rates most and least effective policies; findings encourage focus on racial equity and support for policies and innovations that increase capital for affordable housing New York, NY— Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) and The NHP Foundation (NHPF) released today A Decade of Rental Housing Vulnerability: Lessons Learned from Financial Crisis to Coronavirus , a report based on a survey of more than 100 stakeholders from across the affordable housing industry examining how lessons from recent history may inform the affordable housing interventions of today. Survey respondents ranged from developers and lenders to elected officials and researchers. They evaluated policy and programmatic initiatives from three distinct time periods: the Great Recession and Aftermath (2008–2011), Rebuilding in a Divided United States (2012–2019), and the Pandemic and Social Upheaval (2020–2021). The report’s key findings include: • Policies of the past have exacerbated housing vulnerability for low-income renters: Each time federal support for housing is slashed, affordable housing production slows down, placing more families in jeopardy. • Support for vulnerable groups is inconsistent: Veterans and seniors were the only groups respondents agreed have received adequate support in affordable housing policy and programs. Formerly incarcerated individuals and immigrants were seen as having received the least support out of all demographic groups. • Responsibility for addressing racial inequity is shared: 86% of respondents agreed that government should bear primary responsibility for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in accessing and keeping affordable housing, but more than 50% believe that primary responsibility is also shared by developers, local citizens, and lenders/investors. • Public sector support and federal government involvement are essential to address the affordable housing crisis. All surveyed groups agreed that the rollbacks in federal support for housing programs between the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic had the most strongly negative consequences for affordable housing availability, and more than 80 percent of respondents believed public sector actors must be more active in creating and preserving affordable housing.

SURVEY COMPENDIUM

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