Enterprise: Community Developments: New Report Highlights the Continued Success and Necessity of the Housing Credit

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• HUD has released a new report, Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves: Data on Tenants in LIHTC Units as of December 31, 2015, which highlights the continued success and necessity of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit). It shows that between 2013 and 2015, the vacancy rate of Housing Credit properties dropped by 1 percent to 4 percent - indicating that there is high demand for these properties. The report also points out that the Housing Credit continues to deeply target extremely low-income households - those earning up to 30 percent of the area median income - noting that in 2015, 44.5 percent of Housing Credit properties' tenants were extremely low-income renters. (Novogradac & Company, March 26) As previously reported in Community Developments, the fiscal year (FY) 2018 omnibus spending package includes a provision that expands the Housing Credit by 12.5 percent for four years, the first expansion of the Housing Credit in ten years.
  
• A new study by RENTCafé shows that Millennials are spending about 45 percent of their total income on rent, suggesting that they are the most rent-burdened generation. The analysis - which refers to single individuals who pay their monthly rents without assistance - finds that Millennials between the ages of 22 and 30 pay a median rent of $92,600, compared to $82,200 for Gen Xers and $71,000 for Baby Boomers. The analysis suggests that some of this trend can be attributed to Millennials preferring to live in more expensive downtown urban areas and that student debt is preventing many Millennials from buying homes. The study also points out that if this trend continues, members of Generation Z could pay around $102,000 in rent during their 20s. (HousingWire, March 26)