The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes highlights the critical housing needs of the nation’s lowest income households. More than 11.4 million extremely low income renter households in the U.S, whose income is no greater than 30% of their area median income (AMI) or the poverty guideline, face a shortage of 7.4 million affordable and available rental homes. Nationally, only 35 affordable homes are available for every 100 ELI renter households. A shortage exists in every state and major metropolitan area.
Seventy-one percent of ELI renter households are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities. These 8.1 million households account for 72.6% of all severely cost burdened renters in the country.
The NLIHC-led United for Homes campaign proposes a realignment of federal housing expenditures that would provide greater investment in housing for the lowest income households with savings from modest reforms to the mortgage interest deduction. These reforms would provide 15 million additional low and moderate income homeowners with a tax benefit from their mortgage and generate $241 billion in new revenue for affordable housing programs for the lowest income renters like the national Housing Trust Fund, vouchers, and public housing.
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