Low Income Housing Planning: State-of-the-Art

An evaluation of planning activities aimed at improving the housing conditions of low income households is presented. The strength of the private housing sector in the United States has meant that relatively little public building has been attempted, and public planning for housing needs of the poor is still in its infancy. Many housing problems exist and the number of low income households involved may have increased in recent years. Federal efforts have stressed categorical housing programs that fail to deal comprehensively with housing problems and have failed to integrate housing goals with overall fiscal planning. Federal funding procedures have also discouraged careful local planning and analysis. Local planners rely on housing needs analyses to determine planning program priorities. The technique is conceptually sound but, the data used is often incomplete and out of date, and the variables available to describe housing needs are inadequate. The results are often misleading.