Housing Choice Vouchers – The Central tenant in the Complex

Housing, sometimes called housing plus housing, refers to the arrangement and assigned use of private residences or establishments collectively, for the private purpose of sheltering humans living under one roof, for the explicit purpose of sheltering individuals from weather extremes, making their stay comfortable and agreeable. It also refers to housing that is designed to be affordable to its users, and that may not be of a residential nature. Private housing may be supportive, or it may simply be the placement of people in buildings designed for such purpose. One can also include non-residential housing in this broad term, such as shared workplaces, warehouses, schools, and even some medical facilities.

Since housing is a relatively new concept, there are many differing theories and discussions regarding what “housing” really means, how it relates to land and the dynamics of cities, and what we mean by “dwelling.” Some people refer to housing as merely a collection of dwellings, or homes, grouped together for purposes of shelter from weather, time periods, and so on. Others define housing more explicitly, as residential, condominiums, townhouses, row homes, and manufactured homes. Other names for these types of dwellings are apartments, condos, row houses, coops, and mobile homes. These types of dwellings can be built for any number of reasons, whether these reasons relate to budget constraints, site availability, security, and so on. Common types of housing arrangements are usually categorized according to size, building type (row house, bungalow, townhouse, apartment building), number of rooms, and the proximity to amenities (such as schools, hospitals, shopping, etc).

Housing choice vouchers allow residents to purchase their own housing directly from the developer, circumventing the normally necessary waiting list and helping the economy and local preferences. A housing choice voucher system provides incentives to developers to build new developments with selective units and floors, rather than placing all available units in a development. In essence, this provides an alternative to waiting on a waiting list for sub-standard or rent-controlled housing.