Inclusionary zoning programs have been used mostly to produce below-market housing affordable to households with moderate incomes. These households typically earn too much to be eligible for social housing or government assistance, but too little to afford housing being provided by private development.
Nevertheless, there are a ways to use these programs so they also support housing for the low-income. For example, this can be done by using them to secure development sites for the construction of government-assisted housing. Also, non-profit agencies can be assisted to purchase some of the reduced-price affordable units, and then rent them out for low-income households.