Center for Housing and Neighborhoods

Urban Edge’s most-read stories in 2025: Public housing, population growth articles top the list

These seven Urban Edge articles garnered the most reader interest in a busy year for Houston.

Houston’s poorest neighborhoods are still drowning in illegally dumped trash — even after federal intervention

Federal oversight brought more eyes and dollars to Houston’s persistent illegal dumping problem, but city data suggests trash continues to pile up across the city.

Despite glut of existing homes for sale, Houston leads nation in new-home permitting

FEMA buyouts vs. risky real estate: New maps reveal post-flood migration patterns across the US

New research and maps show most people with homes in flood-prone areas sell their properties instead of taking a federal buyout.

‘Just stuck out here’: Bus riders simmer under sun in Houston’s hottest neighborhoods

Harris County residents routinely wait for buses under the scorching sun with no shelter, a burden that impacts health and habits, according to Kinder Institute research.

Federal disaster aid is coming to Houston. Why most property owners will get left out.

Help could soon arrive for Houstonians with property damaged in last year’s two major storms — though not enough to cover even half of the still-needed repairs.

How much is homeowners insurance in Harris County? See average rates in your neighborhood.

Homeowners across Harris County are paying significantly more in property insurance premiums than in years past, adding to the financial strain on residents struggling with housing costs.

‘Vulnerable people in vulnerable places’: How costs and climate collide in Houston’s housing system

More than half a million residents in Harris County and Houston live in neighborhoods facing a triple threat of flooding, extreme heat and poor air quality, according to a new analysis by the Center for Housing and Neighborhoods at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Webinar: 2025 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston

This webinar will share findings from the forthcoming 2025 State of Housing report. A panel discussion will follow.

The 2025 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston

The 2025 State of Housing report highlights Harris County and Houston’s intersecting challenges around affordability, flooding, extreme heat, poor air quality, insufficient housing stock, and the rising cost of insurance to protect households from these vulnerabilities.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, explained

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the largest federal initiative in the U.S. aimed at creating affordable rental housing, resulting in millions of units nationally, including tens of thousands in Harris County.

Underfunded and imperfect, vouchers are an important piece of Houston’s housing affordability

The Houston Housing Authority (HHA) serves about 19,000 households with housing choice vouchers. The Harris County Housing Authority (whose service area excludes Houston, Pasadena and Baytown) supports another 4,500 households with vouchers. Collectively, that is nearly 10 times as many households as are served by public housing, making the voucher program an important — if imperfect — way of providing affordable housing.

Naturally occurring affordable housing is crucial to Houston’s low-income residents. Preserving it requires action.

In Harris County, about 320,000 low-income households are housing cost burdened, paying more than 30% of their income toward rent. Given the low number of subsidized housing units and vouchers available in the county, this population is increasingly reliant upon “naturally occurring affordable housing,” or NOAH.

Public housing is effectively over in Houston. What comes next?

In September, the Houston Housing Authority announced it is ending public housing, following a national trend, as cities such as Chicago and Atlanta have also done so, with previously government-run developments being converted to federally subsidized but privately owned mixed-income communities with fewer affordable units.

Housing Affordability and Instability

Houston-area residents were asked how difficult it was in the past 12 months to afford housing costs, and if certain factors contributed to the difficulty they experienced