New Gap Report Shows Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes Has Worsened for Nation’s Lowest-Income Renters

Just 33 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. As a result of this shortage of affordable homes, 73% of extremely low-income renter households are severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than half of their limited incomes on housing. They account for more than seven of every 10 severely housing cost-burdened renters in the U.S.

The report discusses the necessity of local zoning and land use reform to address the shortage of affordable rental housing. However, these efforts on their own, and without significant federal investments in housing assistance, are insufficient to correct the problem. Congress must make sustained investments in deeply income-targeted programs such as the national Housing Trust Fund, Housing Choice Vouchers, and public housing.

The full Gap report and interactive map are available at: https://nlihc.org/gap

The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated to achieving racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice.