Revisiting Public Housing as a Potential Solution to America’s Housing Crisis

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

American cities are experiencing an acute housing crisis. Skyrocketing demand for housing outstrips supply in every state, propelling rents to record levels and rendering affordable housing scarce (Joint Center for Housing Studies 2024; National Low Income Housing Coalition 2024). As housing cost burden soars –– leaving over half of Americans paying more than 30% of their income towards rent –– and as homelessness reaches record highs, researchers, policymakers, and advocates have primarily focused on solutions that either spur increased supply via the private market or mitigate demand constraints via housing vouchers, housing subsidies, or guaranteed income (JCHS 2024; Colburn, et al. 2024; Bipartisan Policy Center 2025). Another policy option –– boosting the country’s supply of publicly-subsidized housing –– is often overlooked, despite its long history in the United States and its extensive use in other developed countries, like Vienna and Singapore. 

This panel centers publicly-subsidized housing (sometimes known as social housing) as a potential solution to America’s housing crisis, at a time when attention on ––and resources devoted to –– this intervention have ebbed. Today, just under 900,000 units are maintained by public housing authorities, compared to 1.4 million units in the mid-1990s; due to restrictions on new construction, a substantial portion of the remaining units were built before 1970 (Von Hoffman 2024; Schartz 2021). Yet some scholars and policymakers have not abandoned public housing’s potential, recognizing that innovative local approaches might shift extant public housing programs toward a social housing model –– wherein residents are not only shielded from the pressures of the private housing market but also receive high-quality units and a multitude of supports via publicly-developed communities. Public housing authorities are thus experimenting with public-private partnerships to maintain an aging stock, and localities have sought new strategies to provide a publicly financed supply of affordable housing (Vale and Freemark 2012). 

What is the current state of public housing paradigms in the United States, and what are the potential impacts of related investments for housing affordability and homelessness? This panel draws on sociological and public policy research, conducted by academic and think-tank researchers, to answer these questions. Specifically, Matthew Gannon (Johns Hopkins University) will present a paper exploring whether metropolitan areas with higher public housing concentrations see reduced rates of homelessness. Ellie Lochhead (NYU Wagner) will present a paper examining how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversions of public housing units affect the sociodemographic characteristics of households living in these developments over time. Claudia Aiken (NYU Furman Center) will present a paper assessing emergent local approaches to the public development of affordable housing. Finally, Audrey Lynn Martin (PRRAC) will present a paper providing a roadmap to reshaping the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in order to achieve outcomes that match social housing goals. The discussant, Arthur Acolin (University of Washington), brings substantial expertise on housing inequality in general, and federal housing policy in particular. The chair, Kristin Perkins (Georgetown University), has conducted many studies at the nexus of housing instability and social inequalities.  

Policy Area

• Housing, Community Development, and Urban Policy

Secondary Policy Area

• Poverty and Income Policy

Chair

• Kristin L. Perkins, Georgetown University

Discussant

• Arthur Acolin, University of Washington

Organizer

• Matthew Gannon, Johns Hopkins University

Individual Presentations

• Are Public Housing and Homelessness Linked? Evidence from Two Decades of Data Across 330 U.S. Metros - Non-Presenting Co-Author: Jared Nathan Schachner, University of Southern California; Presenting Author: Matthew Gannon, Johns Hopkins University

• The Impact of Public Housing Conversions on Tenant Composition - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Lochhead, New York University

• Public Development and the Promise of Social Housing: Assessing New Government-Led Housing Models in the U.S. - Presenting Author: Claudia Aiken, New York University

• Estimating Capital Needs in United States Public Housing - Presenting Author: Jennifer Stoloff, Econometrica, Inc.