The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University is pleased to announce the publication of a new report, America’s Rental Housing: Meeting Challenges, Building on Opportunities. The report is the third and latest in the America’s Rental Housing series, published by the Joint Center.
According to the report, the recession pushed the number of renters paying more than half their income for housing to record levels. Today, one in four renters, or 10.1 million households, spends more than half their income on rent and utilities. Another quarter of renters, 26.2%, spends 30%-50% of their income on rent and utilities. “In the last decade, rental housing affordability problems went through the roof,” said Eric S. Belsky, Managing Director of the Joint Center and an author of the study. “And these affordability problems are marching up the income scale. In real terms, it means more people have less money to spend on household necessities such as food, health care, or savings.”
