Yesterday, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released Housing Spotlight: A Long Wait for a Home — a report that analyzes the current state of Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and public housing waiting lists across the country. The report spotlights the problems around HCV waiting lists and its systemic effects on extremely low income (ELI) households. Problems stem from 53% of HCV waiting lists closed to new applicants, 65% of waiting lists had been closed for at least one year, and the average waiting list wait time is 1.5 years.
ELI households accounted for 74% of households on the average HCV waiting list and 67% of households on the average Public Housing waiting list. Considering the needs of the largest population to utilize the HCV waiting list, the NLIHC report clearly outlines the need for the reintroduction of current legislation on vouchers and other public housing programs for ELI renters. The private and subsidized rental markets make available only 3.2 million affordable homes for the nation’s 10.4 million ELI renter households, resulting in a national shortage of 7.2 million rental homes. Unable to find affordable housing, 75% of ELI renter households are severely cost burdened, spending more than 50% of their income on housing costs and leaving little money for other necessities.
