Housing: Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Programs

Research Gaps

What are Research Gaps?

Prior to and during the literature review and data analysis, the review team and the Community Preventive Services Task Force attempt to address the key questions of what interventions work, for whom, under what conditions, and at what cost. Lack of sufficient information often leaves one or more of these questions unanswered. The Community Guide refers to these as "research gaps." Research gaps can be pulled together in the form of a basic set of questions to inform a research agenda for those in the field or can be a more extensive narrative that weaves mention of gaps into a discussion generated by findings from the review.

Identified Research Gaps

Effectiveness

The causes of residential segregation and isolation of families by income, race, ethnicity, or social class into neighborhoods of concentrated poverty are complex. Tenant-based rental assistance programs allow families to find affordable housing in safer neighborhoods, but the potential to fully realize housing and neighborhood choice could be advanced by a greater understanding of factors that affect choice.

• What resources are critical in allowing families to fully realize the potential for housing mobility (e.g., counseling on housing search strategies, transportation resources)?
• How can the Section 8 program be made more attractive to landlords, particularly when rental units are scarce in a tight rental market?

Applicability

Our review focused on urban areas, and low SES families with children. Applicability of this intervention to the elderly and to those with special health needs should be assessed.

Other Positive or Negative Effects

Encouraging residential mobility away from poor central-city areas may disrupt existing neighborhood social networks and supports, giving way to greater neighborhood social deterioration.

• To what extent should housing mobility strategies be coupled with revitalization efforts to make central-city neighborhoods more attractive to families at all income levels?
• What factors contribute to residential clustering of Section 8 families in particular neighborhoods, which could eventually lead to neighborhood decline and the reconcentration of poverty?

Economic Efficiency

Tenant-based rental assistance programs do not add to the stock of housing, but rely on available housing in the private rental market. In tight rental markets, when few units are available, is a voucher approach feasible? How does the program compare in cost with housing built and maintained by public funds? Are rental voucher programs cost effective?