Housing

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.

Rising cost of utilities adds to housing affordability woes in Harris County

Nearly 70% of Harris County residents faced some level of difficulty affording their housing costs in 2024, according to a Kinder Institute survey. Among those who did, high utility bills were the most common contributing factor.

2024 Storm Impacts in Houston and Harris County: A Descriptive Overview

This brief provides an overview of the cumulative impact extreme weather had on Houston and Harris County residents from late April to early July.

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.

Rising costs and affordable housing challenges threaten urban areas in Texas

Cities in Texas are in the midst of an escalating housing crisis. Affordability is slipping even in Houston, one of the least expensive large cities in the U.S., said Caroline Cheong, Kinder Institute for Urban Research associate director of housing and neighborhoods.

Kinder Institute Forum: Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Sarah Mayorga

Sociologists Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Sarah Mayorga will be in conversation with Kinder Institute Director Ruth N. López Turley about how Houston can better guide neighborhood investment.

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

To build a better housing system in Houston, let’s start here

Houston has long been hailed as one of the country’s most affordable big cities, bucking national trends. But as the Kinder Institute and others have found, our affordability — and the economic opportunity that comes with it — could be slipping away.

In ‘A Good Reputation,’ Houston’s Northside offers diverging views on neighborhood change

In an April 2014 Houstonia Magazine article, “Where to Live Now: The 25 Hottest Neighborhoods of 2014,” the authors claimed that gentrification had “leapt beyond the Heights and into Lindale Park and Brooke Smith,” which meant that “Northside Village” was the “the next play for urban pioneers.”

Advocates for the homeless set for Houston’s annual count with funding, plan of action in flux

Next week, over 400 volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County will conduct the annual point-in-time count to determine if homelessness is increasing or decreasing in the area.

Why we’re taking a closer look at housing quality — and why we need your help

Over the last several years, we have come to understand that Houston is no longer as affordable as it once was. At the same time, relatively little has been learned about the quality of the places and spaces people call “home.” That’s why the Kinder Institute’s Housing Quality Registry is so urgently needed.

Partnership with Houston Housing Authority offers an opportunity to rethink ‘opportunity’

In late 2023, the Houston Housing Authority received a $5 million federal grant to help move some of its families to so-called “opportunity neighborhoods,” areas with low poverty, high-quality schools and other amenities.

How a Houston Yellow Cab brownfield became a green light for affordable housing in Near Northside

Before ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber emerged in Houston, outposts like the Yellow Cab headquarters, just north of downtown, dispatched taxis to people in need of quick transportation.