Rental housing affordability worsens nationwide

Associated Press

The financial plight of the nation's 34 million renters has deteriorated rapidly since the beginning of the decade, yet they are rarely included in conversations about housing affordability.

Half of all renters now spend at least 30 percent of their before-tax income on rent and utility payments, that's up from about 40 percent of renters in 2000, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. One in four uses more than half of their income to cover those expenses, up from one in five.

And the AP's analysis of census data through 2007, the latest available, doesn't include the effects of the recession, which hammer renters harder than homeowners. Tough economic times also disproportionately affect minorities and the less educated - both groups are more likely to be financially burdened renters.

The median rent, including utilities, rose 7 percent, to $775, between 2000 and 2007. But the increase felt worse because renters saw their median income drop 7 percent, to $29,000, during that time.

Government funding for renter assistance has been stagnant since 2000. At the same time, the number of affordable apartments has been shrinking and the cost of building new ones rarely pencils out.

During the past six years, about 3 million affordable apartments were destroyed, converted to for-sale condos or upgraded to higher-priced rental units, according to census data released last week.

The waiting lists for Housing Choice vouchers, formerly known as Section 8, are years long in many cities. The program currently serves 2 million families. Renters in this program put 30 percent of their income to rent and the voucher makes up the difference. As the economy worsens, voucher recipients are contributing less money. The program must make up the difference, which means reducing the number of new recipients, said Donna White, spokeswoman at the Housing and Urban Development Department.

The National Housing Trust Fund created last July to increase the supply of affordable housing remains empty. Funds were supposed to come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the government has had to give them $85 billion to keep them afloat.