The report’s findings come amid unprecedented attempts to cut federal housing assistance programs. 

With only 35 affordable and available homes for every 100 renter households with extremely low incomes, every state and the District of Columbia is impacted. States with the most severe shortages – Nevada, Oregon, California, Arizona, and Texas – have fewer than 30 affordable rental homes available for every 100 extremely low-income renters. Nevada has just 17. Even states with the least severe shortages face significant shortfalls. North Dakota, which has the least severe shortage, has only 62 rental homes affordable and available for every 100 extremely low-income renters. All 50 of the largest metropolitan areas also have a shortage of affordable and available rentals for the lowest-income renters.

Further, the amount that extremely low-income renters can afford to pay for rent does not cover the development and operating costs of new housing and is often insufficient to provide an incentive for landlords to maintain older housing. As a result, a systemic shortage of affordable housing is available to extremely low-income renters in nearly every community. Subsidies are needed to produce new affordable housing, preserve existing affordable housing, and subsidize the difference between what the lowest-income renters can afford to pay and market rents.

The 2025 Gap report concludes that the private market fails to adequately serve renters with extremely low incomes and that current federal funding for housing assistance is insufficient. Cuts to housing assistance will only exacerbate the severe affordability challenges documented in this report. Congress must make sustained, bipartisan investments in deeply income-targeted programs such as the national Housing Trust Fund, Housing Choice Vouchers, and public housing to address this significant gap in affordable rental housing for the lowest-income renters.

• George Moses, NLIHC Leadership Council

• Curtis Johnson, Vice President of Housing Strategy at Catholic Charities USA

• Shirley Bondon, Executive Director of the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee (ACCT)

• Mona Kafeel, Chief Executive Officer of Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation (TMWF)

George Moses provided opening remarks and emphasized the necessity of faith leaders’ involvement in the issues impacting their communities. Shirley Bondon, Curtis Johnson, and Mona Kafeel each shared how and why their organizations are involved in affordable housing advocacy. ACCT members work together to address systemic issues related to poverty that affect Black communities, and its members recognize the impact of housing insecurity on education and health outcomes. Catholic Charities emphasized the need to build more affordable housing, and its agencies focus on expanding supply and preserving existing units. TMWF operates emergency shelters and affordable housing while also partnering with faith-based communities to support people impacted by domestic violence and housing insecurity.

All three panelists stressed the importance of broadening networks to address the housing crisis holistically, educating new partners and assisting with coalition building while leaning on partners to identify the right language for different audiences. Mona Kafeel advised attendees to “Be patient. Find people who do not agree with you and sit with them. You may or may not change their mind, but you will always leave them with more information.” She went on to share examples of faith groups that initially did not want to work with TMWF on the issues of domestic violence and housing instability but were later willing to discuss domestic violence in their communities when it was reframed as conversations promoting peaceful family relationships. The panelists concluded the session by sharing ways that faith groups can support immigrant communities in today’s political climate, including providing new funding opportunities for refugee services, offering “know your rights” legal trainings to community members, and remaining consistent in advocacy efforts and messaging.

Catholic Charities USA is a campaign Steering Committee member, and ACCT is a State Partner.

“[Restrictive pet policies are] part of a larger, centuries-long project to basically control the lives of the powerless. Not being able to have an animal companion is one of many struggles that you will face as a renter trying to live your life.” Dan Rose, PhD, Winston-Salem State University

Restrictive policies create barriers to housing harming both people and their pets, as companion animals provide essential social and emotional benefits to their owners. High-poverty areas are often resource deserts for pets, with services like groomers, pet supply shops, and veterinarians scarce or nonexistent. Disparities in access to essential services are frequently tied to broader systemic issues, such as housing insecurity. Further, a lack of pet inclusive affordable housing contributes to pet relinquishments to shelters, with housing insecurity accounting for an estimated 7–33% of owner surrenders nationwide. Expanding access to pet-inclusive rental housing would not only help more low-income renters keep their pets but also alleviate pressure on the animal shelter system by reducing the number of surrendered animals. An estimated 8.2 million additional animals could be housed if restrictive pet policies in rental housing were lifted, and easing restrictions could prevent 10.5 million pets from relinquishment.

Increasing pet inclusive rental housing options benefit both people and their companion animals, ensuring that more households can experience the joy and stability of pet ownership.

The fact sheet was developed with the help of campaign partners focusing on animal welfare, including Humane World for Animals (Formerly Humane Society of the US) and Human Animal Support Services, and with help from Lauren Loney Consulting LLC. In total, the campaign has posted 17 multi-sector fact sheets on its website. Each fact sheet compiles landmark research to help policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public understand the deep connections between housing and other national priorities, from healthcare to education to economic growth. Housing advocates are encouraged to download the fact sheets and use them in making the case for cross-sector collaboration with potential allies in other sectors. Expanding the movement for housing justice requires ensuring that sector partners understand how housing directly impacts their own missions and goals.

New Fact Sheet from NLIHC and Protecting Immigrant Families Debunks Myths on Immigrants and Affordable Housing

America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis is primarily caused by the gap between incomes and housing costs and the severe shortage of homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes. Targeting immigrant households will not solve this crisis, and will instead worsen housing supply issues.

Immigrants play a critical role in solving the housing crisis. By deporting immigrant workers, the construction workforce will be dramatically impacted, slow housing construction, raise costs, and ultimately decrease the number of new homes that can be built, worsening housing supply issues. The Trump Administration’s proposals, if implemented, will lead to even more housing insecurity and homelessness by undermining state and local efforts to meet housing needs and harm people in their moments of greatest need by targeting “protected areas” like shelters and schools. Rather than targeting immigrants, Congress should provide the long-term, large-scale investments necessary to end the affordable housing crisis, including expanding rental assistance, investing in affordable housing supply, providing emergency rental assistance, and other eviction prevention measures while strengthening renter protections.

The article highlights how the availability of affordable housing impacts educators’ ability to live in the communities they teach in, which impacts the quality of education for students. “All students deserve a caring, qualified and committed teacher in their classroom. Unfortunately, inadequate pay, the rising cost of living, and skyrocketing student debt have made it much more difficult to attract and retain educators because they cannot afford to stay in the education profession they love,” said National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle. A 2023 study from the National Council on Teacher Quality found that teachers are unable to afford housing in many metropolitan areas across the country. The shortage of affordable housing has a disparate impact on women educators as well, with women making up 77% of K-12 public school teachers.

The “At Home in CMS” initiative is one example of a nationwide trend of school districts seeking to address the housing affordability crisis faced by their workforce. Housing affordability is a challenge for many low wage workers, and NLIHC’s Out of Reach report shows how wages across low wage occupations are not keeping up with the rising cost of rental housing. State and local responses to the housing affordability crisis must be supported by expanded resources at the federal level. The Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) campaign seeks to expand federal housing resources to bridge the gap between rents and incomes, increase the supply of affordable housing, and prevent housing instability and eviction to ensure that households with the lowest incomes have access to stable, accessible, and affordable housing.

Recap: Hands Off Housing Event at HUD Headquarters

House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and several other congressional champions attempted to hand deliver a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, demanding he stop Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s efforts to decimate federal housing programs. Although the congressional delegation was told by HUD staff that Mr. Turner was busy and that the representatives could not come inside, but this did not stop attendees from communicating their message. Ranking Member Waters said, if the HUD Secretary will not come out, “We’ll just give the message to Mr. Turner from out here.” The following congressional champions joined her in delivering their message to the crowd in front of HUD:

• Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA)
• Senator Van Hollen (D-MD)
• Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
• Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
• Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
• Congresswoman Rashida Talib (D-MI)
• Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
• Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC)
• Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV)
• Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ)
• Congresswoman Becca Balint (D-VT)
• Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL)
• Congresswoman Jill Tokuda (D-HI)
• Congressman Jonathan Jackson (D-IL)

Several national organizations representing people impacted by the proposed funding cuts also spoke at the event, including the National Fair Housing Alliance, National Coalition for the Homeless, National ADAPT, American Federation of Government employees, and American Association of Service Coordinators.

NLIHC and the campaign send our sincere gratitude to all who contributed to the Hands Off Housing event and who continue to advocate for the protection of housing and homelessness programs. To keep the pressure on, advocates can contact their members of Congress.

Fact of the Month: Most extremely low-income renters are aging adults, people with disabilities, workers in low wage jobs, students, and caregivers.

Source: The Gap