The Importance of Using Layered Data to Analyze Housing: The Case of the Subsidized Housing Information Project

Journal Article by Vincent Reina, Michael Williams
March 2012

Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy   (New York)

The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy recently developed a new database through its Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP) that combines more than 50 disparate data sets to catalogue every privately-owned, publicly subsidized affordable rental property developed in New York City with financing and insurance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HUD project-based rental assistance, New York City or State Mitchell-Lama financing, or the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program. This datashop article shows how databases like SHIP can aid in efforts to preserve and manage subsidized properties by providing a clear understanding of the number of units subsidized, an improved capability for assessing challenges to the existing subsidized housing stock, and a sharper view of the potential for properties to leave subsidy programs.