Skip to main content

Affordable Housing/Worst Case Needs Reports to Congress

HUD.GOV HUDUser.gov
 

HUD USER Home > Publications > Affordable Housing/Worst Case Needs Reports to Congress

 

Affordable Housing/Worst Case Needs Reports to Congress

 
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2021 Report To Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2021 Report To Congress

This Worst Case Housing Needs report is the eighteenth in a multi-decade series providing national data and analysis of critical housing problems facing very low-income renting families. Renter households with very low incomes who do not receive government housing assistance are defined as having worst case needs for adequate, affordable rental housing if they pay more than one-half of their income for rent, live in severely inadequate conditions, or both. Drawing on data from the 2019 American Housing Survey (AHS), this report finds there were 7.77 million renter households with worst case needs in 2019, a substantial affordable housing problem although not significantly different from 2017 levels. The private market and public rental assistance programs together made available only 62 affordable units per 100 very low-income renters in 2019. The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic recession that began early in 2020 poses great risk of widespread housing problems, a topic that is examined in a Special Addendum.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2019 Report To Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2019 Report To Congress

This Worst Case Housing Needs report is the seventeenth in a longstanding series providing national data and analysis of critical housing problems facing very low-income renting families. Renter households with very low incomes who do not receive government housing assistance and pay more than one-half of their income for rent, live in severely inadequate conditions, or both, have worst case needs for adequate, affordable rental housing. This report draws on data from the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS) and finds there were 7.7 million renter households with worst case needs in 2017, as the private market and public rental assistance programs together made available only 59 affordable units per 100 very low-income renters. Although rising incomes shrank the population of at-risk households, contributing to a 7-percent decline in the number of households experiencing worst case needs between 2015 and 2017, inadequate market supply and competition for affordable units continue to pose substantial challenges for very low-income renters.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs 2017: Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs 2017: Report to Congress

This Worst Case Housing Needs report is the sixteenth in a longstanding series providing national data and analysis of the critical problems facing very low-income renting families. Households with worst case needs are defined as very low-income renters who do not receive government housing assistance and who paid more than one-half of their income for rent, lived in severely inadequate conditions, or both. The report draws on data from the 2015 American Housing Survey (AHS), which debuted a major redesign that included a new national and metropolitan area longitudinal sample. We find that benefits of the strengthening national economy are not adequately flowing to renter households at the lowest income levels and severe housing problems are on the rise.
Learn More >>

 
 
Preview Of 2015 Worst Case Housing Needs
Preview Of 2015 Worst Case Housing Needs

This brief previews the forthcoming report to Congress on worst case housing needs as measured by the 2015 American Housing Survey. Worst case housing needs are experienced by unassisted very low-income renters who either pay more than one-half of their monthly income for rent, or live in severely inadequate conditions, or both. HUD defines "very low-income" as below 50 percent of the local area median income. The full report, to be released later in 2017, will continue the series of biennial worst case housing needs reports that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued since 1991.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2015 Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2015 Report to Congress

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finds that worst case housing needs decreased during the 2011-to-2013 period but persist at high levels across demographic groups, household types, and regions. Substantial unmet needs for affordable rental housing remain even as economic conditions are improving. The unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs 2011: Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs 2011: Report to Congress

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finds dramatic increases in worst case housing needs during the 2009 to 2011 period that cut across demographic groups, household types, and regions. This rise in hardship among renters is due to substantial increases in rental housing demand and weakening incomes that increase competition for already-scarce affordable units.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs 2011: Report to Congress - Summary
Worst Case Housing Needs 2011: Report to Congress - Summary

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finds dramatic increases in worst case housing needs during the 2009–2011 period that cut across demographic groups, household types, and regions. This rise in hardship among renters is due to substantial increases in rental housing demand and weakening incomes that increase competition for already-scarce affordable units.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs of People with Disabilities - Supplemental Findings of the Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs of People with Disabilities - Supplemental Findings of the Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress

This study presents national estimates of the number of households that include people with disabilities who have worst case housing needs and presents their characteristics. It provides a supplement to the Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress, released in February 2011.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress

The report is next in the series of worst case housing needs reports that have been issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 1991.
Worst case housing needs (WCN) 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. 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.
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Housing Needs 2007: Report to Congress
Worst Case Housing Needs 2007: Report to Congress

The report is the twelfth in the series of worst case housing needs reports that have been issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 1991.
Worst case housing needs (WCN) 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. 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.
Learn More >>

 
 
Affordable Housing Needs 2005: Report to Congress
Affordable Housing Needs 2005: Report to Congress

In 1990, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee directed HUD to "resume the annual compilation of a worst case housing needs survey of the United States... [to estimate] the number of families and individuals whose incomes fall 50 percent below an area's median income, who either pay 50 percent or more of their monthly income for rent, or who live in substandard housing."
Learn More >>

 
 
Affordable Housing Needs: A Report to Congress on the Significant Need for Housing
Affordable Housing Needs: A Report to Congress on the Significant Need for Housing

In 1990, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee directed HUD to "resume the annual compilation of a worst case housing needs survey of the United States ... [to estimate] the number of families and individuals whose incomes fall 50 percent below an area's median income, who either pay 50 percent or more of their monthly income for rent, or who live in substandard housing."
Learn More >>

 
 
A Report on Worst Case Housing Needs in 1999: New Opportunity Amid Continuing Challenges, Executive Summary, January 2001
A Report on Worst Case Housing Needs in 1999: New Opportunity Amid Continuing Challenges, Executive Summary, January 2001

This report documents a significant decrease - of at least 440,000, or 8 percent - in the number of renter households with worst case housing needs between 1997 and 1999. This welcome reversal of a ten-year trend of increasing worst case needs provides strong evidence of the effectiveness of the nation's economic and housing policies in helping the very lowest income households.
Learn More >>

 
 
Rental Housing Assistance -- The Worsening Crisis: A Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs, March 2000
Rental Housing Assistance -- The Worsening Crisis: A Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs, March 2000

This report documents the continuing, growing crisis in housing affordability throughout the Nation. It contains important new information that is critical to ensuring an informed discussion regarding the appropriate Federal responses to this crisis. Specifically, as of 1997.
Learn More >>

 
 
Rental Housing Assistance -- The Crisis Continues: The 1997 Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs
Rental Housing Assistance -- The Crisis Continues: The 1997 Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs

A crisis in affordable housing persists among very low-income renters despite a vigorous economy. This alert comes from Rental Housing Assistance -- The Crisis Continues, a recent report from HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, which analyzes "worst case" housing needs among families with incomes below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI). Families and individuals have worst case needs if they do not receive rental assistance and pay more than one-half of their income for rent or live in severely inadequate housing.
Learn More >>

 
 
Rental Assistance at a Crossroads: A Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs, 1996
Rental Assistance at a Crossroads: A Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs, 1996

The number of households with worst case needs for rental assistance reached a record high of 5.3 million in 1993, according to a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report to Congress. The report, entitled Rental Housing Assistance at a Crossroads: A Report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs, finds that over 4 in 10 households with "worst case housing needs" are families with children. In announcing the report's findings, HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros commented, "This report makes clear that we're not helping millions of families even get to the starting line."
Learn More >>

 
 
Worst Case Needs for Housing Assistance, 1990/91
Worst Case Needs for Housing Assistance, 1990/91

Congress has directed that preference for admission to federally assisted housing be given to households with the most acute needs, i.e., unassisted very low-income renters who pay more than half their income for rent, live in severely substandard housing or are homeless, or have been involuntarily displaced. Using the American Housing Survey and the 1990 Census, this third annual report estimates that the number of very low-income renters experiencing such needs swelled by 385,000 households, reaching about 5.3 million by 1991. The predominant problem facing these households continues to be the cost, rather than the quality of their housing.
Learn More >>

 
 
Trends in Worst Case Needs for Housing, 1978–1999
Trends in Worst Case Needs for Housing, 1978–1999

After having increased by one-fifth over the previous 10 years, between 1997 and 1999 the number of U.S. households with worst case needs for rental assistance fell significantly, by at least 8 percent, to 4.86 million. This reduction in worst case needs resulted from increases in income among very-low-income renters, but not from increases in the number of rental units affordable to them. Instead, the trend of decline in the number of rental units affordable to extremely-low-income households accelerated between 1997 and 1999.
Learn More >>

 
 
Priority Housing Problems And "Worst Case" Needs In 1989
Priority Housing Problems And "Worst Case" Needs In 1989

In 1989, 3.6 million elderly or family very-low-income renter households had priority "worst case" housing problems, because they lived in severely substandard housing or had rent burdens exceeding 50 percent of reported income. Unassisted family and elderly renters with such problems have been the only households included in past estimates of "worst case need". However, because the National Affordable Housing Act redefined "families" to include single persons for programs administered by HUD, this report also counts as "worst case" another 1.4 million very-low-income renter households that have severe problems but contain only nonelderly unrelated individuals.
Learn More >>

 
 
The Location of Worst Case Needs in the Late 1980s: A Report to Congress
The Location of Worst Case Needs in the Late 1980s: A Report to Congress

This historic report, prepared by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research for use by Congress, details the acute housing needs experienced by some 2.8 million unassisted, very low-income renter households around the country between 1987 and 1990. These households lived in the 44 metropolitan statistical areas surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey and experienced priority problems including paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent and utilities, being displaced, or living in severely substandard housing.
Learn More >>