Filed Under "Yeah, Obviously": HUD's "Worst Case Housing Needs" Report

File this report in the "what's the point" folder. There were close to 13 million individuals facing an affordable housing shortage in 2007. Yes, that number is high. Yet, since this number reflects the state of housing among low income persons in America in 2007, it is most likely a drastic underrepresentation of the true reality today.

The federal government's Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued to Congress its 12th annual "Worst Case Housing Needs" (pdf) report. "Worst case housing needs are experienced by unassisted very low-income renters who either (1) pay more than one-half of their monthly income for rent; or (2) live in severely inadequate conditions, or both," the report reads. "HUD defines 'very low-income' as below 50 percent of the local area median income (AMI) and 'extremely low-income' as below 30 percent of AMI."

There were 5.91 million households with worst case housing needs in 2007, comprising 12.97 million individuals. This issue was not concentrated in any one racial or ethnic group, with 2.92 million non-Hispanic white households, 1.35 million non-Hispanic black households and 1.23 million Hispanic households. It was also not concentrated in any one geographic location or type of neighborhood, with problems in urban, suburban and rural areas alike. Worst case housing needs were not limited to the unemployed, as nearly half of the households with children that experienced this were working full-time. There were also more than one million households with disabled adults having worst case housing needs.

The study found that the primary cause of worst case needs is severe rent burden. No surprise there. Affordable housing is a commodity in desperate need. The report notes that "[t]here were an insufficient number of both affordable and available rental units for extremely low-income renters."

As we said, the data that was analyzed and summarized was only through the year 2007. It does not take into account the financial crisis of 2008 and resulting economic recession. HUD's press release acknowledges this and states that the next report will contain this data. One can only imagine how much these numbers will increase.

Given this fact, it seems that HUD may have been premature in releasing this data. Thousands of Americans lost their jobs and their financial security during this recession.  Many have lost their homes and become homeless. Many more are in danger of becoming homeless. It's safe to say that the majority of Americans have certainly lost their sense of financial security. As a nation, we have yet to recover. The next HUD report may contain data that more accurately reflects the true number of "worst case housing needs," but the American people in this position don't need HUD data to tell them where they stand.

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