Report Shows How Demand for Affordable Housing Explodes as Supply Constricts

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) recently released a report entitled “Meeting the Challenges of the Growing Affordable Housing Crisis.” The report details the exploding demand for affordable housing and the dramatic decrease in affordable units. It attributes the crisis to an increased demand for housing, the constrained supply of housing, and stagnant wages. Here are the key findings from the report:

• By mid-2015, 43 million families and individuals were renters, a 19 percent increase from 2005 to nearly 9 million, the largest gain in the number of renters in any 10-year period on record.
• Between 2001 and 2013, the United States lost nearly 13 percent of its existing affordable rental housing.
• From 2000 to 2013, the total number of Americans facing extreme housing unaffordability has exploded from 7 million to 11.2 million, a nearly 60 percent increase.
• Seniors, veterans, and the homeless are driving increased demand. From 2001 to 2011, the number of severely cost burdened seniors rose from 1.3 million to 1.6 million, a 30 percent increase.
• By 2025 nearly 15 million Americans could be spending half of their monthly income on rent—an increase of 25 percent
• If we do nothing, the number of seniors experiencing extreme housing unaffordability will increase nearly 60 percent by 2025, to a total of 2.7 million.

To help address the challenges of the increased demand in affordable housing, Cantwell has introduced, along with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act to strengthen and expand the low income housing tax credit by 50 percent.