Las Vegas is home to almost 600,000 people all from different cultural backgrounds. It truly is the melting pot of the west. Along with a mix of culture comes a mix of economic and financial demographics. Las Vegas is full of spacious and affordable houses and apartments to choose from. Low Income Housing in Las Vegas has a diverse variety of apartments, no matter what your budget is.
Developers, investors, and landlords are given tax breaks to build housing that is more affordable for low-income families. This all thanks to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) which was passed in 1986, according to thebalancesmb.com. It was passed to keep essential workers such as hospitality, retail, and construction workers to help the city function. This stimulates the economy and keeps businesses profitable.
Nevada’s Tricky Situation
In recent years, Las Vegas has experienced an influx of people looking for housing. According to knpr.org, there are 171,000 families looking for low-income housing in Las Vegas, but only about 32,000 units are available. Housing developers and investors have not been keeping up with demands and it has left many families without appropriate and affordable housing. As a result, lower wages and rising prices mean families cannot find the housing they need.
Luckily, Las Vegas saw the need for its residents and approved $52.6 million to rebuild and renovate 230 apartments into affordable housing. The bond will also fund building 200 affordable apartment units in the far southwest valley, according to knpr.org
Affordable Housing
Low Income Housing in Las Vegas can take on many meanings. Affordable housing that is affordable for people who have lower incomes than the median in their area. Affordable Housing can look like single-family homes, townhomes, tall apartments, or any other type of place you could call home. The nice thing about Las Vegas is the climate is so dry and hot that most low-income housing even has nice amenities such as a pool and clubhouse.
The requirement for a property to be deemed affordable housing is the cost of rent has to be less than 30% of your monthly expenses. These types of properties can be marketed towards middle-class families because it is less strict with rent requirements. A lot of places will say affordable housing and be quite expensive because the requirements are less strict. This is different than low-income housing.
Low Income Housing
Low-income housing is available if you make 30-80% of what the average median income is in your area. These are mainly built for a lower financial class and income-restricted families/individuals.
Specifically, anything less than 30% of the average income median would be ruled as extremely low-income. This would qualify for section-8 housing where a portion of the rent would be covered every month for those who qualify. This type of private housing has very long waiting lists and can be difficult to obtain. However, Nevada has a plethora of low-income housing properties all around the state! No matter what your level of income is, Las Vegas has what you covered!
Everybody Wins!
Having these types of properties in Las Vegas will greatly improve the happiness and economy of communities and cities. The developers and investors were given tax incentives, so they were also benefiting from building cheaper housing.
Overall, it is a win-win for investors, developers, landlords, and tenants who live there! Las Vegas is a busy growing city that is diverse and colorful. People from all parts of the world are coming to Nevada because of its rich melting pot and rich opportunities. Beautiful and affordable housing in Las Vegas is just one of the benefits of living there!
Qualifications for Low-Income and Affordable Housing
Fortunately, not just anybody can live in low-income housing. It’s important that only people who need low-income housing get to live there. Each state has rules as far as who can qualify for it, depending on the income median in that area. This is why low-income housing in Nevada exists, to aid those who really need financial help. Families with young children, veterans, people with disabilities, and the elderly are typically first when applying for this kind of housing.
Limits on Income
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) placed 3 income limits for people applying for housing. These limits are 30, 50, and 80. For a person to be deemed low-income, the income of the tenant has to be somewhere between 30-80% less than the AMI or Area Median Income, according to taxpolicycenter.org.
Some places will be advertising affordable housing but will not be low-income housing. If a tenant makes more than the threshold of 30-80% than they cannot qualify for low-income housing. However, they are still eligible for most affordable housing.
The Federal Tax Codes say landlords and developers have to make sure tenants aren’t spending more than 30% of their bills on all their rent expenses. This is good because it guarantees tenants that their rent stays under a certain amount.
Low-Income Apartments in Las Vegas:
https://www.ayalasvegas.com/ AYA Apartments
https://www.siena-apts.com/ Sienna Townhomes
https://www.livewoodcreekapartments.com/ Woodcreek Apartments
https://www.marylandvillas.com/ Maryland Villas Apartments
Benefits to Affordable Housing:
Lower-income families working a job in the food industry, hospitality, retail, food service, etc, are essential to Las Vegas’s economy and the overall needs of any city. That is why low-income housing was created. We want to keep these essential workers in our cities with the housing they can afford.
On top of that, investors and developers are happy because they receive tax credits and incentives to build these types of properties. Children do better in school knowing they have a nice place to come home to. Also, tenants have more spending money to stimulate the economy. Also, communities have more blue-collar working essential jobs in the area. Overall, the happiness of the community thrives.
If you want to learn more about low-income housing, check out this website.