Why Housing Choice and Mobility Matter

The Urban Institute released a report that provides an overview of why housing choices matter for influencing better outcomes for families. HUD’s proposal for transforming federal rental assistance program is designed to expand subsidy recipients’ choice for where to live. Currently, low-income households living in public housing and in federally assisted projects lose their subsidies if they move. As it is difficult to receive a housing subsidy due to long wait periods, families are often reluctant to move away and lose the subsidy. Authors discuss implications for highly centralized, clustered areas of poverty, and offer considerations for why mobility is important.