NLIHC released today its annual report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes. The report finds that the lowest-income renters in the U.S. face a shortage of 7.1 million affordable and available rental homes. Three-quarters of renters with extremely low incomes are severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than half of their income on rent. Recent proposals for drastic cuts to HUD and its programs are contraindicated, as the report emphasizes the continued need for a bipartisan commitment to solving the affordable housing crisis. Sustained federal investments are desperately needed to preserve and expand the affordable housing stock, bridge the gap between renters’ incomes and rent costs, and provide emergency aid for renters who experience unexpected short-term financial setbacks.
Just 35 affordable and available homes exist for every 100 renter households with extremely low incomes. This shortage impacts every state and the District of Columbia, resulting in widespread housing cost burdens for extremely low-income households nearly everywhere. States with the most severe shortages – Nevada, Oregon, California, Arizona, and Texas – have fewer than 30 affordable rental homes available for every 100 extremely low-income renters. Nevada, the state with the most severe relative shortage, has just 17. Metropolitan areas with the worst relative shortages – Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, San Diego, and Houston – all have fewer than 20 affordable and available homes for every 100 of the lowest-income renters. No state or major metropolitan area has more than 62 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 renters with extremely low incomes.
The report explains that the private market fails to serve renters with extremely low incomes and current funding for housing assistance is insufficient, creating a systemic national problem. Congress must act to solve this problem by expanding subsidies to build deeply affordable housing, strengthening programs that preserve existing affordable housing, and providing short-term rental assistance to help renters during times of unusual financial hardship. Without these actions, the affordable housing gap will continue to persist, leaving millions of people without safe and stable homes.
The full Gap report and interactive map are available on our website at: https://nlihc.org/gap