DC isn’t just plagued with high housing costs; lack of supply is a problem too.
There are 46,428 extremely low-income renter households in DC but only 23,058 housing units affordable to ELI renters. This leaves a gap of 23,370 homes for ELI renters — 50% of the need is unmet.
Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Only 50% of current affordable units are priced for extremely low-income renters. This leaves tens of thousands of households, already with extremely low incomes, with no choice but to pay well beyond their means for any kind of housing.
These gaps demonstrate that existing “affordable housing” doesn’t come close to meeting the huge level of need.
But what makes this a crisis?
Simply the state of being cost burdened can negatively impact wellness. Households experiencing severe cost burden are more likely to be food insecure and in poor health. When households are already cost burdened, any small shock to their finances -- increase in rent, medical emergency, or an unusually high heating bill during a cold month -- can mean the difference between making rent that month or not. And missed rent can quickly snowball to eviction, and ultimately homelessness.
Once a household is either homeless or at risk of homelessness, their health and wellness outcomes quickly deteriorate. Unstable housing and financial insecurity are detrimental to children’s educational performance and elevate exposure to violence, trauma, and social isolation, which can have rippling effects on wellness as these children age. These negative outcomes tend to be more pronounced for children of color.
Quality of housing is also critical for resident health and safety. Housing affordable to low-income populations is often poorer quality than market rate housing, leading to health concerns ranging from respiratory disease to insufficient climate control to lead poisoning.
As we have seen here, existing “affordable” housing does not meet the huge need, and the housing that is “affordable” often fails to meet quality standards of market rate and luxury housing. As a result, housing insecurity has direct implications for health and well-being.
Not only are housing costs too high, supply of housing is lacking, and quality is not guaranteed.
