Investors, developers, and supply‐side subsidies: How much is enough?

Abstract This paper examines the recent history of supply‐side subsidies. The first section describes the programs that have had a major impact on the supply of low‐income housing over the last 20 years. The second section looks in some detail at the recent history of tax subsidies to low‐income housing and attempts to quantify their magnitudes. The third section presents some data on recent syndication deals to shed light on the return rate that seems to have been required in recent years to attract private investors into low‐income housing. The final section turns to the literature on rent‐seeking behavior and proposes a more efficient way to subsidize low‐income housing production.