"The rising economic tide is raising many boats, but it is also drowning some. As an unintended consequence of this amazingly strong economy, there is less affordable housing stock and the prices are beyond the reach of those at the bottom of the income spectrum." -- Andrew Cuomo Despite a booming U.S. economy, the affordable housing shortage is worsening for some of the Nation's poorest families, according to Waiting In Vain: An Update on America's Rental Housing Crisis. Issued by HUD, the report documents the ongoing shortage of affordable housing in the United States from 1996 to 1998. It shows that the number of families with worst case housing needs remains at approximately 5.3 million, the same level found in 1995. Families with worst case needs are those who earn less than 50 percent of their area median income and pay more than half of their income for rent or live in severely substandard housing. "At a time of unprecedented prosperity for so many, islands of despair remain," concludes the report. The current strong economy forces "the poorest renters to compete for a shrinking pool of affordable units. With nowhere else to turn, millions of families with worst case housing needs join lists for HUD-assisted housing and are left waiting in vain." The time families spend on waiting lists for HUD housing assistance has grown dramatically since 1996, according to the report. For the largest public housing authorities, a family's average time on a waiting list rose from 22 months to 33 months from 1996 to 1998 -- a 50-percent increase. The waiting period is even longer in some large cities. For example, in New York City the wait is 8 years. Families in Oakland, California, face a 6-year wait and families in Washington, D.C., and Cleveland face 5-year waits. The average waiting period for Section 8 rental assistance vouchers, used to help families in need rent privately owned apartments, rose from 26 months to 28 months between 1996 and 1998. The waiting period for the vouchers is now 10 years in Los Angeles and Newark, 7 years in Houston, and 5 years in Memphis and Chicago. Waiting In Vain reports that the number of families on waiting lists for HUD assistance has increased as well. Some waiting lists have been closed due to overwhelming size; the size increases of those that remained open ranged between 10 and 25 percent from 1998 to 1999. The 40 waiting lists examined in detail for the report include almost 1 million families. Further, the gap between affordable rents and the incomes of poor families is increasing. "Between 1995 and 1997, rents increased faster than income for the 20 percent of American households with the lowest incomes," states the report. The Consumer Price Index for Residential Rent rose 6.2 percent between 1996 and 1998, much higher than the 3.9 percent rate of inflation for the period. Waiting In Vain also documents a fall in both the number of affordable housing units and the number of households receiving rental assistance from HUD. The report found that:
In 1998 the median asking rent of new rental units -- $726 per month -- remained out of reach for most low-income families. The number of households receiving rental assistance from HUD dropped by 51,000 from 1996 to 1998, a time when the U.S. Congress barred HUD from issuing new rental assistance vouchers. To make matters worse, private landlords are opting out of HUD-assisted subsidy contracts, which may worsen the housing crisis. In 1998 alone, almost 13,000 housing units were lost through opt outs as owners left the project-based Section 8 program in search of higher, market-rate rents. In its FY 1999 budget Congress provided HUD with 90,000 new vouchers. Through Section 8, HUD now provides rental housing assistance to 3 million households and subsidizes 1.3 million public housing units for a total of 4.3 million assisted families and individuals. You may order a free copy of Waiting In Vain: An Update on America's Rental Housing Crisis using the order form.
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