Report Finds Shortage of 7.2M Affordable Rental Units for Lowest Income Renters

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) recently released its 2016 report focusing on the gap between the number of extremely low-income (ELI) households and the number of affordable housing units available to them. ELI households are those with incomes at 30 percent of area median income or less. According to the report, there are just 31 units affordable and available to every 100 ELI households nationwide. This amounts to a shortfall of 7.2 million units.

The report found that three out of four ELI households nationwide are spending more than half of their income on housing. This puts ELI households at greater risk of housing instability and homelessness.

The report claims that existing federal programs, including the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the HOME Investment Partnership Program, are insufficient to address the needs of ELI households because they are not exclusively targeted to this income category and may not reach ELI households without other subsidies.