Housing Policy in the United States: An Introduction

Housing Policy in the United States is an essential guidebook to and textbook for housing policy, and is written for students, practitioners, government officials, real estate developers, and policy analysts. It discusses the most important issues in the field, introduces key concepts and institutions, and examines the most important programs. Written as an introductory text, it explains all concepts, trends, and programs without jargon, and includes empirical data concerning program evaluations, government documents, and studies carried out by the author and other scholars. The first chapters present the context surrounding US housing policy, including basic trends and problems, the housing finance system, and the role of the federal tax system in subsidizing homeowner and rental housing. The middle chapters focus on individual subsidy programs. The closing chapters discuss issues and programs that do not necessarily involve subsidies, including homeownership, mixed-income housing, and governmental efforts to improve access to housing by reducing discriminatory barriers in the housing and mortgage markets. The concluding chapter also offers reflections on future directions of U.S. housing policy.