Housing where the occupant pays no more than 30% of their gross income for housing costs, including utilities.

Housing that is available on the regular market, open to anyone and not subsidized by a government or nonprofit, and is within the budget of many families.

A generic term covering all federal, state or local government programs that reduce the cost of housing for low- and moderate-income residents. Subsidized simply means that rents are reduced because of a particular government program. It has nothing to do with the quality, location or type of housing.

Public corporations with boards appointed by the local government who aim to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people. In addition to public housing, housing authorities also provide other types of subsidized housing.

Impact fees charge owners of newly developed properties for the "impact" the new development will have on the community. Fees can be used for such things as transportation improvements, new parks, and expansion of schools. Impact fees are not used to maintain existing facilities, but instead are used to create new facilities in proportion to the number of new developments in the area.

Usually practiced in urban areas, is planning communities and developments that will provide housing to all income brackets. Inclusionary zoning ordinances often require any new housing construction to include a set percentage of affordable housing units. This can produce affordable housing at little cost to local government, create income-integrated communities, and lessen sprawl.

A trust created to effectuate a real estate ownership arrangement where the trustee holds legal and equitable title to the property subject to the provisions of a trust agreement setting out the rights of the beneficiaries whose interests in the trust are declared to be personal property.

A linkage or impact fee may be assessed on new industrial, commercial, or office development that increases the affordable housing burden on the surrounding community. The fees are used to create affordable housing. (Alternatively, housing units may be provided as part of the development.)

The ratio between the proposed loan amount and the appraised value of a property that money is being borrowed for. For example, if a proposed loan equals 85% of appraised value, the loan-to-value ratio is 85%. For community reinvestment programs, lenders will sometimes lend up to 95% or 97% of value, typically only if mortgage insurance is provided. The maximum ratio for conventional loans is 80%.

Many for-profit and nonprofit-developed rental properties use these federal income tax credits. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission allocates these credits to developers to build or fix up low-income housing. Large corporations, institutions, pension funds, and insurance companies invest in housing as a method to gain tax credits and reduce their income tax obligations. These apartments serve residents below 60% of median income and must accept Section 8 vouchers.

The prevailing monthly cost for rental housing. It is set by the landlord without restrictions.

This is a statistical number set at the level where half of all households have income above it and half below it.

Housing that accommodates more people than a single family home but does not come in the form of a large apartment building. Typically it means anything from a duplex to a small apartment building but, significantly, it is housing that would blend in in a residential neighborhood dominated by single-family homes. It’s called "missing" middle because many communities do not have very much of this sort of mid-range housing. Advocates across the country are pushing for it to be more widely permitted and more widely built in order to create more housing options, as well as greater opportunities for small scale developers.

Nonprofit housing is developed by nonprofit corporations with a community board of directors and mission. Most housing developed by nonprofit housing developers is affordable with rents or prices below market-rate. Income generated from the housing is put back into the mission of the organization, rather than being distributed to stockholders or individual investors as would be the case in for-profit housing.

A nonprofit organization with a mission that involves the creation, preservation, renovation, operation or maintenance of affordable housing.

A subsidy going to property owners to reduce the management, maintenance and utility costs of housing. It is needed for projects housing extremely low-income residents who can't afford rents covering the actual costs of housing.

State and local government actions that restrict rent increases or service fee charges to tenants.

The rules where abandoned or underused property is redeveloped. This topic includes inner city redevelopment, single lot infill, and brownfields redevelopment, as well as the process for obtaining the state and local government authorization to proceed with such work.

Many Section 8 contracts have expired or will expire soon, and the property owners must now decide whether to renew their contract or leave the program ("opt out"). Most of these contracts are now renewed on a one-year basis. Projects with high risk of opting out typically have rents set by the Section 8 contract below the prevailing market rents for comparable units. Owners thus have an incentive to leave the program and convert their property to private market rentals.

This is administered by the local housing authority. Eligible tenants receive vouchers they can use to help them pay for apartments in the private market.

The term "redlining" refers to the practice of refusing to make loans or otherwise discriminating in providing financial assistance for housing in particular geographic areas, according to HUD. Historically, some lending institutions were found to have maps with red lines delineating neighborhoods within which they would not do business.