PHLHousing+ Housing Security Outcomes After Two Years
Vincent Reina, Matthew Fowle, Sara Jaffee, Mimi Tanski, Rachel Mulbry, and Miranda Fortenberry
PHLHousing+ is a direct-to-tenant, cash rental assistance program that began in Fall 2022 in Philadelphia. The program provides monthly cash payments to 301 low-income families with children over nearly four years, ending in June 2026. Much like the in-kind subsidy provided by the national Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, administered locally by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), PHLHousing+ payments eliminate housing cost burdens by ensuring that renters pay no more than 30% of their income on housing. PHLHousing+ is administered by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), a quasi-public nonprofit agency operating under the umbrella of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development.
The PHLHousing+ evaluation is a randomized control trial with three assignment groups: (1) 301 “cash households” who receive the rental subsidy in the form of monthly cash payments; (2) 170 “voucher households” who are offered a tenant-based housing voucher; and (3) 725 “control households” who receive no rental subsidy and remained on PHA waitlists.
As described in this report, PHLHousing+ has had significant positive impacts on the housing security of participating families. These positive impacts are comparable to those reported by households that receive rental assistance through the HCV program. Both forms of rental assistance are crucial for ensuring low-income families have safe, stable, and affordable housing.
Key insights from these early findings include:
- 100% of households that were offered the cash rental subsidy were able to use it.
- Cash assistance led to a 63-75% reduction in forced moves relative to households that received no assistance once households had been receiving cash for at least a year.
- PHLHousing+ significantly reduced the chances of a household experiencing homelessness, with only 3.0 per 100 cash households reporting any form of homelessness two years into the program, compared to 6.9 per 100 control households.
- PHLHousing+ also improved the reported housing quality of households, with a 22% reduction in serious housing quality concerns two years into the program, relative to those who received no assistance.
- Despite Philadelphia having a much higher housing voucher use rate than the national average, 25% of households offered a voucher were still not able to lease a unit and therefore could not use the benefit.
- The HCV program led to significant reductions in households’ exposure to forced moves relative to the control group in the second year of the evaluation.
- The HCV program significantly increased housing quality, with a 31% reduction in reported serious housing quality concerns two years into the program relative to the control group.
