Promoting Home Affordability: A Key to Independence

Access to an affordable home can improve health outcomes, housing stability, and financial security. Shelter is a basic human need and a key social determinant of health. For instance, providing chronically homeless individuals with stable and affordable homes can reduce health care costs by an average of $10,470 per person.

Yet, affordable homes remain out of reach for many older Americans. In 2021, a record 11.2 million older adults were housing cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing. This burden continues to rise across all older age groups, especially among renters—a trend that is expected to persist.  

Promoting Affordability Through Federally Assisted Rental Housing Programs

Helping older adults remain stably and affordably housed requires a multifaceted approach. One promising strategy is expanding access to federally assisted homes. These programs are vital resources that can help the nation’s lowest-income people access the benefits of an affordable home and age in place.

Older adults in federally assisted homes often face greater health and financial challenges than their low-income peers, reporting issues such as:

• High blood pressure

• Arthritis

• Heart disease

• Difficulties with mobility and routine care

Despite these challenges, older adults are better positioned to age in place living in federally assisted homes. Residents are more likely to:

• Be connected to health care systems

• Receive mental health support

• Access in-home care

• Have stronger social networks

• Have accessibility features in their home

Many organizations that manage these properties partner with service providers to improve resident health and well-being, amplifying the positive impact of affordable homes. As a result, older adults are less likely to have recently moved and more likely to experience increased self-reported health after living in federally assisted homes.

Understanding Federally Assisted Rental Housing Programs

Federally assisted housing comes in two primary forms: tenant-based and project-based assistance.

• Tenant-based subsidies, such as Housing Choice Vouchers, move with the tenant and help cover rent in the private market.

• Project-based subsidies support affordable housing development, operation, and maintenance through rental assistance contracts, grants, low-interest loans, tax credits, or mortgage insurance. Programs that provide targeted assistance to build and operate affordable rental homes for older adults and people with disabilities include Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities.

As of 2020, federally assisted housing programs stabilized the lives of 2.9 million older adults nationwide. Project-based subsidies support 5 million rental homes, representing 10% of the housing stock. At least 1.74 million of these homes are targeted to assist older adults and people with disabilities, making them a critical component of the social safety net for America’s older adults.

Locating Federally Assisted Rental Homes in Your Community

Federally assisted rental homes are located in nearly all regions across the country. To expand access your community, you must start by identifying locations of these homes and how many more are needed.

The National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) can help you begin answering these questions. It provides a comprehensive, deduplicated list of federally funded rental properties that must remain affordable for low-income households. The NHPD tracks the locations of these properties, how federally funded programs work together to finance the construction and operation of affordable homes, when this assistance was awarded and is set to expire, the groups these properties target, and more. Advocates, researchers, housing seekers, and policymakers use the NHPD to support planning, preservation, and advocacy efforts aimed to protect and expand affordable housing.

Expanding Access to Affordable Homes

Despite growing needs, just over one-third of eligible households receive assistance. To better address the growing need for federally assisted homes, pursue the following strategies:

• Support Funding for Affordable Housing Programs: Improving housing affordability to help a growing aging population will require additional resources. Increasing funding for affordable housing programs such as the Housing Choice Voucher, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities can equip housing providers to build and operate more affordable homes.

• Strengthen Housing and Health Care Partnerships: Collaboration between health and housing organizations can improve outcomes by combining health care services with housing stability. Health care organizations can provide on-site clinics, programs to promote healthy living opportunities, data to understand health disparities, and resources and referrals to serve high populations with high health care use. Affordable housing providers can provide streamlined access to populations facing greater health disparities, community space, and the opportunity to improve social determinants of health by expanding accessibility and enhancing the safety of the built environment in which residents live. LeadingAge’s Housing and Health Care Partners Toolkit offers guidance for launching these partnerships.

• Expand Service Coordination Resources: On-site service coordinators reduce acute inpatient hospital visits by 18% for older adults living in federally assisted housing. Supporting programs like HUD's Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator and Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) grant programs can strengthen service coordination and enhance residents’ ability to age in place.

Federally assisted rental housing programs are a proven, impactful solution to help older adults remain safely housed, connected to care, and empowered to age in place. Meeting the growing need will require sustained investment, cross-sector collaboration, and expanded support for critical services. By advancing these efforts, we can build a future where every older adult—regardless of income—has access to a safe, affordable home and the opportunity to thrive.

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