Why Do Larger Public Housing Agencies Have Longer Wait Times?

Stories of lengthy wait lists for subsidized housing assistance are rampant in newspapers, housing advocacy groups and tenant organizations and this anecdotal evidence often points to populous cities with large housing agencies as having the most unreasonable wait times. Is this phenomenon a result of housing agency size or are there other determinants that lead to longer applicant duration on the waitlist? This study hypothesized that larger public housing agencies (PHAs) have longer average wait times for applicants and that within the agencies spectrum of programs, voucher programs have longer average wait times than public housing programs. Previous studies had either focused solely on waitlist characteristics or the effect of agency size on management efficiency. This study provides quantitative analysis on the relationship between agency size (i.e. the number of units administered) and average applicant wait time, which is largely absent from existing literature.

Autorentext

Marika Bertram currently works in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on a Presidential Management Fellowship. She has a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown Public Policy Institute with a focus on Housing Policy. Previously she worked in investment banking and has an undergraduate degree in Economics and Urban History.