Low-Income Housing Policy

Abstract

Low-income housing assistance is an important part of the welfare system in many countries. This article discusses the rationale for this government activity, describes the most important differences between different low-income housing programmes, explains why economic theory has limited implications for the effects of these programmes, and summarizes the evidence on their most important effects. The most important finding of the empirical literature on the effects of different housing programmes from the viewpoint of housing policy is that recipient-based housing assistance has provided equally good housing at a much lower total cost than any type of unit-based assistance.