A research report from Freddie Mac Multifamily quantifies what happens to Low Income Housing Tax Credit properties after their compliance periods end. Tracking a large national sample of LIHTC properties, the study finds that most remain in a programmatic affordability structure and, among those that exit, a majority still deliver rents affordable to 60 percent area median income households.
Specifically, the Freddie Mac research found that:
- 87 percent of expiring LIHTC properties studied subject to a programmatic use restriction that preserved affordability after the initial tax credit compliance period ended.
- In expiring LIHTC properties that did not remain under a programmatic use restriction, 61 percent of units continued to be affordable to households at 60 percent area median income after the compliance period expired.
Methodology and Context
Freddie Mac Multifamily conducted the analysis by assembling a national LIHTC property dataset covering both properties still in compliance and properties that had exited. Rents were then compared against local market rents and area median income benchmarks to categorize continued affordability among exited properties, and Freddie's own 2021 equity investments were characterized by AMI band.
