A Growing Need for Affordable Rental Housing

Affordability is the Primary Housing Problem Facing Families that Rent.

Recently a Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report found that approximately one-fourth of renters living in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas are severely burdened, spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent and utilities.

Deteriorating Affordable Housing Stock

As our nation’s housing stock ages, affordable rental homes are not being replaced or preserved at a rate that meets demand – more than one-fourth of the low-cost rental stock has been lost in the past decade.  As unsubsidized new construction is unable to meet the needs of low-income households , competition is increasing for a deteriorating supply of affordable homes.

The Widening Affordability Gap

The gap between the number of very-low income renters and the number of affordable rental homes available continues to widen. Currently the supply gap is around 6.4 million units, meaning that there are only 11.6 million affordable and adequate rental homes available to 18 million low-income renters.  Read More about A.C.T.I.O.N.'s proposals to address this challenge.  

The Success of the Housing Credit and How it Impacts You

Producing and Preserving Affordable Housing

The Housing Credit program (also know as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program or LIHTC) is designed to support the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing. Financing for the vast majority of new and rehabilitated affordable homes would not been possible without the Housing Credit program, which is regarded as the most successful affordable housing production and preservation program in the nation’s history.

How the Program Impacts You

Over the past 25 years, the Housing Credit program has financed the development of over 2.5 million rental homes throughout the nation, creating approximately 95,000 jobs annually. To see how the Housing Credit program successfully impacts your state, please visit the A.C.T.I.O.N. State Fact Sheets