Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
This was going to be a post in another thread but it would have only indirectly been related to the topic at hand. And this particular topic is quickly becoming one that may have profound repercussions here in The Villages, what with ever-more service workers being needed in TV as it expands and more businesses sprout up.
Question: Just what IS “affordable housing”? Is there a sound, realistic definition for the term, or it it just another buzz phrase that sounds great when people rattle it off but has virtually no real meaning?
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Generally, the US government characterizes "affordable housing", is housing that costs less than 30% of a households income.
HUD characterizes "affordable housing" in stages.
"Low Income Housing" is affordable (per HUD Guidelines) to folks earning no more than 80% of the Median Income, in the SMSA l(Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area) they live in.
"Very Low Income Housing" is affordable to to folks earning no more than 50% of the Median Income in their SMSA.
Many states have "Affordable Housing" Laws/Regulations, all of whom define Affordable Housing, differently.
In another life, I was Director of the Housing Opportunities Program for the Commonwealth of MA. I can tell you from experience, the "affordable housing" industry is joke of gargantuan proportions and seldom do "affordable housing programs" serve the folks they were meant to serve. It's an industry rife with abuse, fraud, manipulation and typical government incompetency.