Harvard Rental Study Finds 50% of Renters Have Housing Affordability Problems

A 2024 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University reveals that although the rental market is cooling, evictions and homelessness are rising. The rental housing affordability crisis has deepened across all income groups and now affects half of all U.S. renters.

It was found that:

(1) Rental costs have stabilized following historic increases in 2021 and 2022. As of 2023's  third quarter, rental growth slowed to rates of less than 1%, down from 15% in early 2022. Although these reduced growth rates have offered relief for some households, asking rents still exceed pre-pandemic levels. The report finds that 50% of all renters are now cost burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.

(2) The supply of lower-cost units has diminished; over 2.1 million units renting for less than $600 per month have been lost since 2012. From 2012-2022, higher construction costs and increased demand from high-income renters resulted in an increase of 8.4 million units renting for more than $1,400, which is unaffordable for most renters.

(3) As of January 2023, more than 653,000 people were experiencing homelessness, which was the highest number on record. 

(4)  Although multifamily housing construction increased during the pandemic, it began to slow in late 2023. In October 2023, new multifamily housing starts were down by 30% from 2022, and the reduced starts could have lasting effects on the current shortage of multifamily housing. 

(5) Property insurance premiums have skyrocketed by 30 or 40% in some areas, which can limit the number of affordable units a property owner can provide. In some cases, borrowers opt for reduced coverage to bring down their insurance costs, but this strategy can place properties in an insecure position if a natural disaster occurs. In addition, these increased insurance costs also can lead property owners to compensate by cutting back on maintenance and necessary upgrades.

(6) The report indicates that the country's rental housing stock is aging, with a median age of 44 years in 2021 compared to 34 years in 2001. This aging housing stock requires substantial upgrades in habitability, energy efficiency, and accessibility standards, and it also faces a heightened risk of damage from climate change and extreme weather events.

Read the March 19, 2024 PD&R Edge article.

Harvard Study Finds Rental Affordability Lowest Ever

The just-released Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report America's Rental Housing 2024 has found that in 2022 an all-time high of 22.4 million renters spent over 30% of their income on rent and utilities. Among cost-burdened households, 12.1 million had housing costs that were more than half of their income, an all-time high for such severe burdens. The dwindling supply of low-rent units is only worsening cost burdens, according to the report. As the study explains: "Climbing rents in recent years propelled US cost burdens to staggering new heights: in 2022, half of all US renters were cost burdened. And while rental markets are finally cooling, evictions have risen, the country is seeing the highest homelessness counts on record, and the need for rental assistance is greater than ever."

The negative personal impacts of such tight budgets force financially vulnerable renters to make awful choices. Harvard Joint Center analysis of the 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey found that severely cost-burdened renter households in the lowest expenditure quartile spent 39% less on food and 42% less on healthcare than unburdened households. Others may end up living in overcrowded or  structurally inadequate conditions, threatening their health and well-being.

Local Data

For the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, 86% of renters are considered moderately burdened by the report, and 103% severely burdened. This geographic combination is the sole local breakdown available in the study.

Concerning the renters' race, about 175,000 renters in the area are Black, 134,000 White, 25,000 Hispanic/Latino, 18,000 Asian, and 18,000 multi-racial or another race. Some 52.1% of Blacks are renters, 21.1% of Whites, 45.8% of Hispanics/Latinos, 31.2% of Asians, and 50.1% multi-racial or another race.

Read the Harvard Joint Center study

Go to the Harvard report's summary page.

HUD Settlement Requires Oklahoma Landlord to Pay $300,000 to Discrimination Victims

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement-Conciliation Agreement (VCA-CA) that requires Cushing Housing Inc. to pay $300,000 to individuals, including former tenants, that were subjected to housing discrimination at Cushing’s property. Read the agreement.

The agreement stems from a complaint filed by tenants alleging Cushing Housing violated civil rights laws when it failed to address serious, racially motivated harassment that denied them the ability to peacefully enjoy their housing. The harassment was so severe that it left them fearful of leaving their apartment and took a substantial toll on their mental health. The VCA-CA resolves HUD’s October 26, 2022 Letter of Findings which found respondents discriminated against the tenants in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

HUD’s investigation found that residents began harassing the complainants, a White mother and daughter, when the daughter began dating a Black man and was seen with this man at the property. HUD’s investigation found that complainants repeatedly notified Cushing Housing of this harassment, but that Cushing Housing failed to take any steps to address it. The pervasive harassment included calling the complainants racial slurs and threatening racially motivated violence. Despite being on notice of this harassment, Cushing failed to take prompt and effect steps reasonably calculated to end it, instead ultimately issuing a notice to vacate to both the complainant mother as well as the harassers, which HUD found to be unlawful retaliation against the mother for the reporting racial harassment.

In addition to the $300,000 payment to complainants and an aggrieved individual, the agreement requires Cushing Housing: (1) to establish an anti-harassment policy as well as a fair housing and civil rights compliance policy which must be made available to all tenants and include formal grievance procedures, and (2) to obtain fair housing and civil rights training for all officers, agents, and employees.

Read the December 11, 2023 HUD press release.