Public Housing Programs Could Benefit from Greater Flexibility: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic Experience Urban Institute, May 4, 2021
This brief provides insights into how public housing authorities used additional flexibilities that became available through a series of HUD-issued regulatory and statutory waivers, and makes the case for the potential benefits for added flexibilities for the housing choice vouchers and public housing programs going forward.
Eviction Prevention and Diversion Programs: Early Lessons from the Pandemic Urban Institute, April 27, 2021
This brief describes the diversity of court-based and court-adjacent state and local eviction prevention and diversion programs that have been created or adapted to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. From both a national scan and program interviews, we identified lessons for policymakers, administrators, and advocates to help design and support effective and equitable eviction diversion programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Upcoming Events
What Can We Learn from Communities About Equitably Providing Emergency Rental Assistance? Urban Institute, May 25, 2021
In this webinar, the Urban Institute will provide information about the Emergency Rental Assistance Prioritization (ERAP) tool and how to use it as well as share other resources states and localities can leverage when designing and implementing equitable rental assistance programs.
Research Spotlight
Preserving and Expanding the Supply of Affordable Rental Housing Urban Institute, May 4, 2021
This brief offers recommendations to improve the effective use of capital, to expand capacity (including supporting mission-driven owners), and to streamline and coordinate activity across government agencies and stakeholders to preserve and expand affordable rental housing supply. We also suggest ways to build trust among market actors to improve how the entire system functions.
Young Families and the Growing Number of Single-Family Rentals Joint Center for Housing Studies, April 27, 2021
This blog post explains that while still a relatively small share of all new housing, record numbers of single-family rentals were built in 2020. And young, modest-income families with children are more likely to live in these units because of the space they provide (compared to new multifamily rentals) and their relative affordability (compared to new single-family homes for-sale).
Rent Regulation for the 21st Century: Pairing Anti-Gouging with Targeted Subsidies NYU Furman Center, April 26, 2021
In this policy brief the Furman Center's Sophie House recommends pairing broad-based anti-gouging regulations with targeted subsidies as a superior method for stabilizing low-income households while avoiding rent regulation's history drawbacks.
Where to Prioritize Emergency Rental Assistance to Keep Renters in Their Homes Urban Institute, last updated May 14, 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.
