Low income households have the hardest time finding affordable housing as supply dwindles and number of low income households rises, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). The current economic crisis has resulted in a situation where more individuals with lower income are looking for housing at a time when rents are rising. NLIHC has issued a research brief based on new data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS),  comparing the number of low income (LI), very low income (VLI), and extremely low income (ELI) renter households in each state with the number of rental homes that renters below each income threshold can afford.

The analysis found that, nationally, for every 100 ELI renter households, there are only 30 affordable and available units.  From 2009-2010, the number of ELI households increased by 200,000 while units affordable to ELI households decreased by 200,000 in that same time. Additionally, after paying rent and utilities, 3/4 of ELI renter households have less than 50% of their income left for all other expenses. 

In CT, 69% of ELI households suffer from severe housing cost burden. Severe housing cost burden is when a household pays more than half of its income for housing and utility costs.  CT has 38 affordable and available units per 100 ELI households. This number is above the national average, but still far below the adequate supply needed, indicating that much work still needs to be done to decrease the gap between supply and demand. 

ELI is defined as a household that makes 0-30% of the Metropolitan Area Median Family Income (MMFI).  The analysis takes into account availability of units because,  although there may be affordable units out there, not all of them are available due to various reasons, such as lack of transportation, distance to work, poor living conditions, etc.

To read the full report click here.