Moving to Work, Landlord Incentives Cohort Evaluation: First Interim Report

Authors: Finkel, Meryl     Geyer, Judy     Kumar, Nishi     Mahathey, Anna     Andrichik, Alyssa     Thomas, Hannah     Buron, Larry     Peck, Laura     Abt Associates     Garboden, Philip     University of Hawai'i    

The 28 public housing authorities (PHAs) in the Landlord Incentives (LI) cohort of the Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion will implement incentives not available to standard PHAs that encourage landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, including wider payment standard ranges, extra payments (e.g., signing bonus, reimbursements for tenant-caused damage), and flexible timing for housing quality standard (HQS) inspections. To assess impact, the multi-year evaluation will measure landlord willingness to rent to HCV holders, landlord participation in the HCV program, and lease-up success of HCV renters at baseline and two years after LI MTW agencies implement MTW landlord incentives. Outcomes observed at the LI MTW agencies will be compared to those observed at a comparison group of 112 standard PHAs.

This is the first of two interim reports. This first interim report describes characteristics of the LI MTW agencies, their intended uses of MTW flexibility, and how they compare to the standard PHAs in the comparison group. The main data sources are IMS/PIC, MTW applications, the American Community Survey, and a web survey of LI MTW agencies and comparison group standard PHAs. The report shows that LI MTW agencies intend to implement a mix of MTW landlord incentives. It also establishes critical information needed to interpret outcomes: The LI MTW agencies and comparison PHAs were well matched at baseline on measures of landlord participation and voucher holders’ lease up rates, but the MTW PHAs placed a higher priority on activities intended to increase landlord participation in the HCV program. The second interim report (due in late 2024) will document implementation of the landlord incentives, and the final report (due in 2026) will be a comprehensive description of the study methods and findings, including qualitative findings on landlords’ experiences with the housing choice voucher program and quasi-experimental estimates of the impacts of the landlord incentives on landlord willingness to rent to voucher holders, the number of landlords in the HCV program, and lease-up success rates. Differences between LI agencies and comparison PHAs in terms of several exploratory measures will be described as well, including dispersion of voucher units, types of landlords participating in the program, and average time to lease up.

Learn more about Evaluating the Expansion of the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program.

Publication Categories: Publications     Affordable Housing     Assisted Housing - General     HUD Assisted Renters     Housing Choice Vouchers/Section 8 & Project-Based Section 8     Housing for Persons with HIV/AIDS, Disabilities, and Seniors/Elderly