The document discusses whether the federal/state government should be responsible for implementing subsidized/public housing. It notes the ongoing challenges with public housing and argues that the government should support programs like Section 8 vouchers to make housing affordable for low-income residents. However, it also acknowledges that not all citizens require subsidies, and the assistance should be targeted towards those most in need. Overall, the document argues that while the government needs to invest in affordable housing solutions, many factors will determine the appropriate level of subsidies required.

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Should the Federal/ State Government be responsible for implementing subsidized/ public
housing?
Political and economic challenges have plagued public housing authorities throughout the
United States for years. When it comes to protecting America's most vulnerable inhabitants, an
ongoing discussion dates back as far as the early 1800s. It continues to be a sensitive topic for
many in both the public and private housing sectors. Public housing, like its predecessors, aims
to help individuals in need of housing aid or shelter by providing rent vouchers or state homes.
Problems with housing discrimination, family stability, budget cutbacks, suitable housing, and
rent reform have hampered public housing policy at all levels of government. U.S. government
attempts to create equitable and fair housing possibilities for economically disadvantaged groups
that is not currently being implemented. In essence, the federal government should be
responsible for supporting and implementing subsidized housing.
The government should support and ensure timely implementation of section 8 vouchers
project. The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program is a kind of government aid for renters.
In 2018, over 5 million Americans lived in homes where rent was paid in part or whole using
vouchers (Ramon 28). Congress wanted to make sure treat low-income residents could obtain
adequate housing and a suitable living environment when it passed Section 8 in 1974.
Vouchers should be accessible to anyone who satisfies the income criteria and may apply
for them. Their local housing authority should begin channeling payments directly to landlords if

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they have been accepted and chosen for a voucher. The payments should cover some or all of the
voucher holder's rent. Rent accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the typical household's monthly
income (Landis and Mcclure 341). Several criteria will decide the amount of aid one is suitable
for, such as the size of the family, the sort of income people bring in, how often one gets it, and
how much an individual may deduct from the income.
People spend money on rent, and mortgage payments each month is used to assess the
prices of owning a home. Food, health care, and transportation costs may strain families who
spend most of their money on housing. There may be concerns with local property pricing for
any individual or low-income family. Still, the affordability crisis suggests that this is a worry for
many families. For the first time since 2004, more than half of rental households spent more than
30 percent off net income to pay rents (Ramon 23).For instance, in middle-class households have
experienced the raising costs of housing that has accounted for a larger percentage of household
expenditure compared to previous years. However, the availability of low-cost housing varies
widely throughout the country due to limited government subsidies. Thus, the average home
price in the United States is roughly three times the average income. When it comes to
California, the Northeast, and South Florida, expenditures are six times higher than incomes on
average. Subways in the Midwest and Heartland are less than twice as expensive as those in the
rest of the country.
The federal government should set a systematic approach to development. It is mostly up
to the state and local governments to decide what kind of housing may be built. Limiting
apartment buildings is one of the most common zoning policies that raise the cost of housing.
Apartments are more cost-effective than single-family homes. Nearly seventy-five percent of the
United States has been effectively barred from constructing new homes (McMahon 18). Other

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zoning requirements, such as building height limitations, required garden spaces, and parking
restrictions, contribute to the high cost.
When it comes to building a new home, it has been more difficult for the market to keep
up with demand over the last two decades, resulting in a rise in the price of new houses. The
federal government also influences building costs in several ways: trade regulations and tariffs
imposed by the United States impact construction materials such as wood and steel. The Federal
Reserve's monetary policy and the credit regulations enforced by public and quasi-public
organizations influence Mortgage costs and availability (Teater 516). Therefore, the government
should offer public housing to its citizens.
Undeniably, low-income renters in the United States have received federal housing aid
since the 1937 adoption of the United States Housing Act. All but a small percentage of these
housing subsidies were supplied by HUD or its predecessor organizations. Almost all of the
programs examined in this document give financial assistance to renters with modest incomes
who satisfy the program's conditions. In most cases, renters pay little more than 29% of their
gross income after taxes, with the federal government picking up the slack (McMahon 14). An
individual's gross monthly earnings should not exceed an established threshold when applying
for a grant. The HUD sets the income restrictions, which vary depending on the size of the
family and the locality. Once an applicant has used housing aid, they are generally put on a
waiting list.
Similarly, funds from the HUD should be given to local housing authorities to help
create, manage, and upgrade public housing. Local agencies own the housing. Families are only
eligible for public housing subsidies if they agree to reside in a specific public housing building.
Most housing aid is offered on a tenant-by-tenant basis right now. The Section 8 certificate and

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voucher programs, established in 1974 and 1983, were the first to provide tenant-based aid in the
United States. The Housing Choice Voucher program was established in 1998 to replace these
programs. Participants in tenant-based programs can discover and lease private market homes via
these programs. Program administration is contracted to HUD by local and some state entities
that serve as PHAs (Wijburg 262). They then get into agreements with private landlords.
Housing quality criteria and other program requirements must be met. The subsidies are provided
to help low-income families pay their rent. Aided families can relocate at any time and keep their
support as long as they like under tenant-based schemes. The main distinction between
certificates and vouchers is that the unit's rent could not exceed a certain amount under
certificates. A family with a low income using vouchers, on the other hand, will be responsible
for any rent that exceeds the payment threshold, which is set locally using the Fair Market Rent
(Landis and Mcclure 324). FHUD calculates FMR using data from recent renters for non-luxury
apartments that fulfill specific quality requirements.
HUD's rental assistance programs for multifamily properties, often known as privately
owned or project-based housing, comprise the third main rental assistance category. There are a
variety of housing aid programs that have been implemented throughout the previous four
decades. These programs all offer rental housing held by private landlords that contract with
HUD, using subsidies from HUD. Project-based means that the aided household cannot take the
subsidy and relocate somewhere else. The Section 8 program, established in 1974, was the most
significant project-based program ever (Walters 24). Under this approach, new buildings and
extensive renovation might be financed via several sources. The Loan Management Set Aside
(LMSA) program was a significant variation of project-based Section 8 in projects funded by

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Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs that were not initially designed to provide deep
subsidized rental assistance.
Over time, lower housing prices will be achieved when more homes, particularly smaller
ones, are constructed (or at least keep them from rising as quickly). Market-rate housing
expansion alone is not enough to benefit the poorest households. According to HUD rules, low-
income employees with a median salary of roughly $20,000 should not spend more than $500 a
month on housing (Teater 514). In most of the United States, the running costs of low-quality
residences are less than this. Public subsidies are the sole method for low-income families to
meet their housing needs. Government housing subsidies like vouchers or the National Housing
Trust Fund should be expanded to help lower-income households. Only around one in five
eligible renter families presently gets government help, unlike food stamps or Medicaid.
Importantly, affordability of housing has been a pressing issue for many years. Thus
further subsidies for low-income families are not contingent on zoning or tax change. A move to
land value taxes and up zoning might make housing more unaffordable. The conversion of older,
low-density, low-rent flats into new, more significant, out-of-reach structures is likely to occur in
hot real estate markets because of these two strategies (Ramon 21). As a result, protecting low-
income tenants from eviction be made more accessible by increasing the number of households
eligible for housing vouchers. Increased rents might also be caused by zoning revision that does
not allow new homes to be built.

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Courtesy of Getty images
In recent years, the price of homes has continued to rise. For instance, the price of a
typical house has increased by over 15% (Wijburg 120). The current housing market's high pre
purely the consequence of an imbalance between supply and demand. Interest rates were
decreased to assist the economy recover after the commencement of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The fall in loan rates and the desire of many Americans to move out of cities and into more
significant, more affordable homes sparked a boom in demand for new construction (McMahon
24). However, many vendors have decided to withdraw from the market due to the current state.
This has resulted in a substantial spike in total house prices due to more buyers than sellers.
U.S. households are under increasing financial strain due to growing housing costs hence
the government should assist in meeting the housing expenses. For instance, even middle-income
families find it more challenging to purchase a home, especially in metropolitan locations with
robust job markets. It is crucial to consider where individuals can afford to reside as well
(Walters 19). Children who grew up in high-opportunity neighborhoods do better economically
when they become adults. There is a lack of new home construction in high-demand areas, such
as those with thriving economies and high-quality public schools, which contributes to rising

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housing costs (Teater 510). To a lack of affordable options, those with moderate or low incomes
are forced to live further from work and public transportation hubs, increasing their time and
money spent traveling.
Courtesy of Getty images
Income Redistribution
The government should ensure efficient income distribution to its citizen through
favorable tax regime. As a short-term strategy for reducing poverty and inequality involves
taxation and donations to the poorest people. On average, taxes on personal income and cash
assistance for the poor are about ten times lower in industrialized economies than in developing
countries. A conditional cash transfer program's success has shown that money can be
transferred to the economies of the impoverished more effectively. Higher and more effective
taxes on the wealthiest citizens might help produce the required amount of money in the budget
deficit (McMahon 18). As a result, government should emphasize on direct taxes.
In Rebuttal, the federal government should not be responsible for overall subsidy of
public housing. A good number of individuals in the economy have the capability of owning
their own homes. Additionally, working class have house allowances that may assist them in

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paying the housed rents (McMahon 28). Further, some companies provide accommodation to
their workers and hence, the subsidy should only be directed to the low income earners in the
economy.
In conclusion, secure and affordable housing constitutes the right of every citizen of the
United States. The government would need to invest heavily in housing subsidies and create a
conducive environment for home construction. However, numerous factors will determine the
amount of assistance the government needs to avail to the citizens to cushion the projecting
mortgage prices. Additionally, the government would need to clarify the eligibility for subsided
housing. The government's subsidies, like vouchers or the National Housing Trust Fund, should
be increased to assist low-income families. Land value taxes and up zoning may exacerbate the
affordability of homes. Thus, the government should intervene as households in the United
States are under greater financial hardship as housing costs continue to rise faster than wages.
Further, state and federal lawmakers are becoming more interested in zoning reform, although
they have little capacity to influence the process. Alternatively, the government should check on
raising Tariffs to create affordable housing in the domestic market. Therefore, the government
should act with speed to save the pockets of suffering citizens as most of their income may end
up in paying house rent.

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Works Cited
Landis, John D., and Kirk McClure. "Rethinking federal housing policy." Journal of the
American planning Association 76.3 (2010): 319-348. Retrieved on April 1, 2022, from
https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2010.484793
McMahon, Kohlberg John. “Homeless Students in America’s Public Schools”. Americaspromise.
Retrieved on April 1, 2022, from https://www.americaspromise.org/report/hidden-plain-
sight.
Ramon, Noy. Anti-Displacement and Affordable Housing Strategies in Jaffa, Israel. University of
California, Los Angeles, 2021. Retrieved on April 1, 2022, from
https://www.proquest.com/openview/57be212e61b085a7b3f4fd7d7f6960ea/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Teater, Barbra Ann. "A qualitative evaluation of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher
program: The recipients’ perspectives." Qualitative Social Work 10.4 (2011): 503-519.
Walters, Kennedy. “Out of Reach: Illinois’ Affordable Housing Crisis”. NPR Illinois. . Retrieved
on April 1, 2022, from https://www.nprillinois.org/post/out-reach-illinois-affordable-
housing-crisis#stream/0
Wijburg, Gertjan. "The governance of affordable housing in post-crisis Amsterdam and
Miami." Geoforum 119 (2021): 30-42. Retrieved on April 1, 2022, from
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.12.013