This review is part of the 5th Joint Research initiative between The Wilson Center in Washington D.C. and The Housing And Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG), a South Korean public company offering housing and rental guarantees to improve housing opportunities and general welfare.

This policy brief provides the national context of housing and especially affordable housing in the early 21st century. We follow Freeman and Schuetz (2017) who defined “affordable housing” broadly to mean any housing that (1) must be rented or sold at below-market prices, or (2) can be occupied only by households below a defined income threshold. The brief gives an overview of the affordable housing system in the U.S. After describing the roles of the private and public sector, we give an overview of some the major approaches to producing affordable housing. A brief example is provided for the various approaches discussed.