Part 6: Will more housing solve the affordable housing crisis?

The final state we will be exploring the relationship between housing starts and low-income housing in is Texas. In Texas, about 49% of renting households are cost-burdened, suggesting there is still much to be done to make housing in the Lonestar state more affordable.

In fact, to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at the current market rate of $1087, a Texan household must work a total of 115 hours per week to make ends meet.

By the numbers

Between 1995 and 2014, the number of housing starts in Texas increased by 105%. However, the number of homes financed via LIHTC declined by 96% for the same period.

This suggests that while the construction of new homes in Texas has ramped up significantly in the past couple decades, this new construction has done little to mitigate the housing crisis facing the state.

In 1995, 36% of the housing starts in Texas were financed by LIHTC in an effort to increase the supply of affordable housing. However, in 2014, this figure fell to 0.6%.

Housing Starts and LIHTC Construction

Year	New Privately Owned Housing Units Authorized	Total Number of Low-Income Units
1995	31,281	11,447
1996	32,521	7,331
1997	40,245	5,922
1998	51,560	4,719
1999	40,715	6,179
2000	28,381	3,127
2001	33,958	5,734
2002	35,791	7,286
2003	37,455	10,283
2004	33,030	13,379
2005	38,671	12,416
2006	47,271	11,203
2007	53,196	12,135
2008	46,918	298
2009	15,837	2,318
2010	19,741	4,448
2011	30,417	7,091
2012	53,729	6,291
2013	53,615	2,987
2014	64,103	387

Evidently, the increase in new construction alone is not a viable policy solution to the housing affordability crisis facing the state of Texas.

As seen in Texas, Washington, California, and New York, increasing the number of housing starts does not necessarily equate to more housing that is affordable for low and middle income Americans. Next week, we will take a look at what policies on both a state and federal level can help create housing that is more affordable.