This study surveyed affordable housing policies for low- and moderate-income and other targeted households in the U.S. during the last three quarters of the century. To that end, we classify four distinct regimes of policies employed: namely, the unit- or project-based subsidies; tenant- or recipient-based subsidies; indirect subsidies via tax expenditures; and, low- and moderate-income homeowner policies. The evolution of these policy regimes, as well as milestone events leading to key policy shifts, is discussed. With respect to policy shifts, we focus on three particular transitions: from supply-side to demand-side, from Federal to local governments, and from low-income to broader constrained borrowers.
