Housing Counseling to Support Renters in Crisis Urban Institute, April 8, 2021
This brief elevates the current work being done in the counseling field to support renters and identify what providers need to deliver successful interventions. During the current crisis, housing counseling providers are looking to adapt service models of foreclosure counselors from the 2008 crisis and improve supports for renters in crisis, to help them negotiate with landlords or lenders and preserve their housing, credit, and finances.
Renters' Response to Financial Stress|Blog Joint Center for Housing Studies & Urban Institute, April 8, 2021
This brief analyzes how renters have responded to loss of income to meet rent payments by reviewing available sources of data and reports on renter finances during the pandemic, including Census Pulse data and the Understanding America Study.
Rent Payments in a Pandemic: Analysis of Affordable Housing in New York City (Blog) Furman Center, April 5, 2021
This blog summarizes our brief published on March 15, 2021, which analyzed rent collection and property management data from large providers of affordable housing in New York City, this brief compares rent payments and other outcomes before and during COVID-19 at the building and unit/tenant level to shed light on landlord and tenant experiences.
Research Spotlight
The Distributional Impact of the Sharing Economy on the Housing Market | Blog Joint Center for Housing Studies, April 1, 2021
In this paper, the author estimates the welfare and distributional impact of Airbnb on the residents of New York City. While Airbnb likely led to higher rents in New York City, the increased rent burden fell most heavily on high-income, educated, white renters. A few enterprising low-income households, however, received substantial gains from home-sharing.
Neighborhood Mobility Programs as a Remedy to the Legacy of Racial and Economic Segregation Urban Institute, April 2021
This blog provides a primer on vouchers and mobility programs as a remedy to discriminatory housing policy. It offers a review of the evidence supporting the use of vouchers and mobility programs, essential sources for those looking to learn more, and next steps for vouchers as a mobility tool.
Crisis, Response, and Recovery: The Federal Government and the Black/White Homeownership Gap | Blog Terner Center, March 31, 2021
In this report, the author explores how federal policy following both the Great Depression and the Great Recession helped to forge and reinforce disparities in access to homeownership for Black households. If the Biden-Harris administration is committed to its racial equity agenda, it must not only act with urgency to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it must also chart a recovery that directly works to dismantle Black exclusion and undo the enduring effects of racism in housing and mortgage markets.
Where to Prioritize Emergency Rental Assistance to Keep Renters in Their Homes Urban Institute, last updated April 5, 2021
This tool estimates the level of rental assistance need in a census tract by measuring the prevalence of low-income renters who are at risk of experiencing housing instability and homelessness.
