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Affordable Housing Vacancies Rise as Poorest Renters Face Shortages
Vacancies are rising in apartments aimed at 60% to 80% of area median income as vouchers lag and the poorest renters face yearslong waitlists.
- Affordable housing units in cities like Austin, Denver, and Portland are increasingly sitting vacant despite acute national shortages for the poorest renters, as rents for these properties approach market rates.
- Most housing financed in recent years targets those earning at least 50% of area median income, leaving few options for 11 million extremely low-income households; homes for these renters comprised only about 12% of units financed in 2024.
- Chief Portfolio Officer Rebekah Fischer of LDG Development said the firm is "in direct competition" with market-rate apartments, noting applicants often bypass affordable housing to avoid lengthy verification and "all these hoops."
- Economist Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute told Congress the system's complexity "spawned an industry of law and accounting firms just to administer it," arguing funds should go directly to tenants as vouchers.
- Mathew Davis, who lives in an Austin homeless shelter, struggles to secure stable housing while working low-wage jobs, as many families remain trapped in homelessness or pay over half their income on rent and utilities.
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33 Articles
33 Articles
The poorest in the US can't find housing even as low-income units
FILE - A person sweeps outside during the grand opening of the Rose on Colfax, a new affordable housing community with a co-located childcare center in the East Colfax neighborhood, Jan. 24, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
·Baltimore, United States
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The Toronto Star+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
The poorest in the US can’t find housing even as low-income units sit empty
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Mathew Davis, who lives in a homeless shelter in Austin, Texas, would love an apartment of his own. But with the little money he makes donating blood plasma, even a $450-a-month tiny home with no running…
·Toronto, Canada
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Associated Press News+19 Reposted by 19 other sources
The poorest in the US can't find housing even as low-income units sit empty
The poorest people in the U.S. face the most acute shortage of affordable homes. That’s partly because the majority of low-income housing financed in recent years has been for those earning at least 50% of an area’s median income.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources33
Leaning Left15Leaning Right3Center13Last UpdatedBias Distribution48% Left
Bias Distribution
- 48% of the sources lean Left
48% Left
L 48%
C 42%
Factuality
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