Thoughts on Rental Housing and Rental Housing Assistance

The United States has long exhibited enthusiasm for homeownership. The converse of this is that it has tended to neglect rental housing. This article seeks to do the following: (1) explain why rental housing is desirable; (2) lay out the policies that favor owneroccupied housing; (3) discuss current subsidy programs for rental housing, with particular emphasis on programs that are not simply legacies of past policy; and (4) examine how these programs might be improved or reformed. It argues that in a second-best world of restrictive zoning and preferences for ownership, rental subsidies may be justified on both equity and efficiency grounds.