{"id":27533,"date":"2021-11-13T03:29:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T03:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=27533"},"modified":"2021-11-14T15:54:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T15:54:43","slug":"why-building-more-homes-wont-solve-the-affordable-housing-problem-for-the-millions-of-people-who-need-it-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-building-more-homes-wont-solve-the-affordable-housing-problem-for-the-millions-of-people-who-need-it-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Why building more homes won\u2019t solve the affordable housing problem for the millions of people who need it most"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alex Schwartz<\/a>, The New School<\/a><\/em> and Kirk McClure<\/a>, University of Kansas<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before 2020, the U.S. faced an acute housing affordability crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic made it a whole lot worse<\/a> after millions of people who lost their jobs fell behind on rent<\/a>. While eviction bans forestalled mass homelessness \u2013 and emergency rental assistance has helped some<\/a> \u2013 most moratoriums have now been lifted, putting a lot of people at risk of losing their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One solution pushed by the White House<\/a>, state<\/a> and local lawmakers<\/a> and many others<\/a> is to increase the supply of affordable housing, such as by reforming zoning and other land-use regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As experts<\/a> on housing policy<\/a>, we agree that increasing the supply of homes is necessary in areas with rapidly rising housing costs. But this won\u2019t, by itself, make a significant dent in the country\u2019s affordability problems \u2013 especially for those with the most severe needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In part that\u2019s because in much of the country, there is actually no shortage<\/a> of rental housing. The problem is that millions of people lack the income to afford what\u2019s on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the crisis hits hardest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Renters with the most severe affordability problems have extremely low incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationally, about 45% of all renter households spend more than 30% of their pretax income on rent \u2013 the widely recognized threshold of affordability<\/a>. About half of these renters, 9.7 million in total, spend more than 50% of their income on housing, greatly impairing their ability to meet other basic needs<\/a> and putting them at risk of becoming homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly two-thirds of renters paying at least half of their income on housing earn less than US$20,000, which is below the poverty line for a family of three<\/a>. Renters with somewhat higher incomes<\/a> also struggle with housing affordability, but the problem is most pervasive and most severe among very-low income households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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