Worst Case Housing Needs Report 2007

Bob Poeschl shared a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development titled "Worst Case Housing Needs 2007." This report was issued to congress and appears to have a wealth of information.

Excerpt:
"The report draws on data from the American Housing Survey (AHS), which is funded by HUD and conducted by the Census Bureau. The AHS has been conducted every 2 years since 1973 and is a key source of national data on housing markets, conditions, and dynamics. It is important to note that the report is based on data from 2007, before the full repercussions of the U.S. mortgage market crisis were felt across the broader economy. This report shows that the number of worst case needs households remained effectively flat, with levels still 18 percent higher than in 2000. Worst case needs remains an equal opportunity problem, with significant incidence across races, family types, geographic regions, and boundaries of cities, suburbs and rural areas.

In addition, the report highlights the critical role that unit availability, and not just market supply alone, plays in determining burdens. For the very lowest income groups, there is an insufficient and shrinking supply of affordable rental housing. Moreover, even though there are sufficient affordable units on a national basis for very low-income renters, many of the lower rent units are occupied by renters with higher incomes. This leaves many of the very low-income renters unable to find affordable housing and forced to take on greater burdens in higher rent units.

Further, the report studies the urban geography of the incidence of worst case needs among families. We discovered two distinct patterns. In cities, most worst case needs families lived in higher poverty neighborhoods. By contrast, most worst case needs families living in suburbs and non-metro areas were located in low poverty neighborhoods."

Finally, the report demonstrates that HUD programs providing rental assistance and spurring the production of affordable housing play a critical role in creating stable housing for low-income renters. However, the evidence is clear: the scope of the problem demands that we do more to ensure that all Americans are suitably housed.

Download full report here.