Changes to Tax Credit Criteria Are Breaking Up Concentrated Poverty in New Jersey

Recent news reports have highlighted the low number of federally-funded affordable housing projects that are built in high-opportunity areas, but an examination has found that strategic allocation changes are having a beneficial effect in New Jersey.

1 minute read

June 10, 2017, 7:00 AM PDT

By Keli_NHI


New Jersey

Andrea Catenaro / Shutterstock

While recent news reports have highlighted the low number of affordable housing projects being built in high-opportunity areas using federal tax credits, a recent examination by New Jersey Future has found that strategic changes in the way federal funds are allocated for affordable housing in the state have meant that many more affordable housing projects have been directed away from high-poverty neighborhoods and toward areas that offer greater economic opportunity.

To evaluate whether those changes had their intended effect, New Jersey Future compared affordable housing projects that received federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) between 2005 and 2012 with projects that received credits between 2013 and 2015, after the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), which administers the tax credits, made significant changes to the criteria it uses to award them.

Thursday, June 8, 2017 in Shelterforce/Rooflines

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 28, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Aerial view of homes and businesses destroyed by Altadena wildfire.

Tenant Advocates: Rent Gouging Rampant After LA Wildfires

The Rent Brigade says it's found evidence of thousands of likely instances of rent gouging. In some cases, the landlords accused of exploiting the fires had made campaign donations to those responsible for enforcement.

2 hours ago - Shelterforce Magazine

View of downtown Seattle with construction cranes and cloudy sky as seen from top of Space Needle.

Seattle’s Upzoning Plan is Ambitious, Light on Details

The city passed a ‘bare-bones’ framework to comply with state housing laws that paves the way for more middle housing, but the debate over how and where to build is just getting started.

3 hours ago - The Urbanist

Woman and man in orange safety vests and hard hats doing surveying work at road construction site.

DOJ Seeks to End USDOT Affirmative Action Program

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program encouraged contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses in the transportation sector, where these groups are vastly underrepresented.

4 hours ago - The Washington Post