Housing policy in the United States

The most significant and most expensive housing policy in the United States is the treatment of owner-occupied housing for tax purposes. This treatment of housing under the tax code is analogous to that in many other countries (for example, Sweden), but certainly not in all developed countries (for example, Canada). Federal subsidies to US renter households are much smaller. Policy has evolved from programmes in which the government built, owned, and managed dwellings to programmes emphasizing housing demand through vouchers and rent certificates awarded to eligible households. Public concern over housing arises from three sources. First, housing is the single largest expenditure item in the budgets of families and individuals in most modern economies. The average household in western Europe and the United States devotes more than one quarter of its income to housing expenditures. Thus, increased efficiency in the provision of housing services or reduced occupancy costs can have a large impact on non-housing consumption and household well-being. Second, consumers ’ housing and location