H000098 housing policy in the United States（H000098住房政策在美国）.pdf

H000098 housing policy in the United States The most significant and most expensive housing policy in the United States is the treatment of owner-occupied housing for tax purposes. This treatment of housing under the tax code is analogous to that in many other countries (for example, Sweden), but certainly not in all developed countries (for ex- ample, Canada). Federal subsidies to US renter households are much smaller. Policy has evolved from programmes in which the government built, owned, and managed dwellings to programmes emphasizing housing de- mand through vouchers and rent certificates awarded to eligible households. Public concern over housing arises from three sources. First, housing is the single largest expenditure item in the budgets of families and individuals in most modern economies. The average household in western Europe and the United States devotes more than one quarter of its income to housing ex- penditures. Thus, increased efficiency in the provision of housing services or reduced occupancy costs can have a large impact on non-housing consump- tion and household well-being. Second, consumers’ housing and location choices condition many other aspects of the quality of urban life. For ex- ample, the transport, schooling, and neighbourhood opportunities of urban households are themselves greatly affected by the housing opportunities available to them. Third, it is widely presumed that there are significant externalities in housing consumption. These external