– Benefits –
If NYCHA begins to act as a springboard and installs term limits or attempts to incentivize residents to leave their developments, the affordable housing crisis for lower income households can begin to decrease. The waiting list for NYCHA has thousands of names and it can take years to move to the front of the list. In New York City, people stay in public housing for 20.7 years on average.
By having stricter rules, such as work requirements or time limits for residents, more people can participate in public housing programs. There should be exceptions for the disabled and elderly. Since the demand for public housing units exceeds supply, when households retain benefits for long periods of time the total number of eligible households served is smaller.
As of March 6th
2017, 257,143 families are on the waiting list for public housing. Since public housing is not a commodity that can be bought and sold on the housing market, it has disrupted the routine “recycling of property that helps helps dynamic cities grow.” With time limits, needier individuals such as homeless people, can begin to receive housing assistance. Housing more homeless people in NYCHA developments is much better for the city. Homelessness is an enormous cost for the city. Just last year, the city has been allocating close to $1.6 billion on homeless services which include shelter operations, security, legal services and more. Additionally, in the past few years there has been a steady increase in the average number of families and length of stay in shelters. By instituting time limits and shortening the waitlist for many families, including homeless ones, the city can save a huge amount of money.
Other benefits of term limits include promoting self sufficiency which can help increase workforce participation. Additionally, this policy could help stretch and more equitably distribute public housing availability which is a scarce resource.
