Naturally Affordable Housing#

Naturally affordable housing (also called “naturally occurring affordable housing” or NOAH) refers to housing units that are affordable to low- and moderate-income households without government subsidies or income restrictions. These units become affordable through market forces—typically because they are older, smaller, in less desirable locations, or have fewer amenities than newer construction. In contrast to subsidized affordable housing (such as Section 8 or Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments), naturally affordable housing has no deed restrictions, meaning landlords can raise rents to market rate at any time.

Naturally affordable housing is critical to Oregon’s housing ecosystem because it constitutes the vast majority of affordable units in the state—approximately 75% of all affordable housing nationally is unsubsidized.¹ When new market-rate housing is built, it enables a process called filtering, where higher-income households move into newer units, freeing up older housing stock for lower-income residents. However, this supply chain breaks down when housing production is insufficient—older units remain in high demand and landlords renovate them to command higher rents, a process sometimes called “upfiltering.” Oregon’s housing shortage has accelerated the loss of naturally affordable units, as investors purchase and upgrade older apartment buildings. Some advocates argue that the best way to preserve naturally affordable housing is to build abundant new supply at all price points, while others push for policies like rent stabilization or acquisition funds to protect existing NOAH properties from conversion. Critics note that even average NOAH apartments are unaffordable to extremely low-income households, and that the term “naturally occurring” obscures the policy choices that shape housing markets.²³