The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a report finding that the number of very poor unsubsidized families struggling to pay their monthly rent and who may also be living in substandard housing increased between 2013 and 2015.

According to the report, “Worst Case Housing Needs,” in 2015, 8.3 million very low-income unassisted families paid more than half their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both. 

Worst Case Housing Needs are defined as renters with very low incomes (below half the median in their area) who do not receive government housing assistance and who either paid more than half their monthly incomes for rent, lived in severely substandard conditions, or both.

“HUD’s estimate is part of a long-term series of reports measuring the scale of critical housing problems facing very low-income un-assisted renters,” HUD stated in a news release. “Based on data from the 2015 American Housing Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of these ‘Worst Case Housing Needs’ increased from 2013 yet remain lower than the nearly 8.5 million households reported in 2011.”

The report made the following findings:

• After a decline in “Worst Case Needs” from 2011 to 2013, the number of these very poor unsubsidized renter households increased between 2013 and 2015 to the second highest number of households recorded – 8.3 million.
• The number of households with worst case needs have increased by 66 percent since 2001, with historic increases occurring between 2007 and 2011 when the combination of mortgage foreclosures, widespread unemployment and shrinking renter incomes dramatically expanded severe housing problems.
• Although incomes continued to rise between 2013 and 2015, rents also increased nearly as fast. For the poorest renters, however, growth in rental costs outpaced income gains.
• Although the production of rental housing is strong, the rapidly growing renter population is putting increasing pressure on the rental market, particularly on the inventory of affordable rental housing.
• The number of households with worst case needs increased across all racial and ethnic groups. The prevalence of worst case needs during 2015 was 47 percent for Hispanic renters, 45 percent for non-Hispanic White renters, 37 percent for non-Hispanic Black renters and 41 percent for others.
• Regionally, the South and West were home to most very low-income renters. These renters also had the highest prevalence of worst case needs and the lowest likelihood of receiving housing assistance. By metropolitan type, worst case needs were most prevalent in densely-populated urban suburbs, followed by central cities.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson called for taking a “more holistic look” at how government at every level can work with the private market to ease the pressure felt by un-assisted renters.

“Today’s affordable rental housing crisis requires that we take a more business-like approach on how the public sector can reduce the regulatory barriers so the private markets can produce more housing for more families,” Carson said.

HUD stated in a news release that the Trump administrative is seeking to “unwind the federal government’s role in the private mortgage market and ease the stress on rental markets.”