There's not enough housing for America's poorest while low-income units sit empty
By Claire Rush
September 7, 2026
"Mathew Davis, who lives in a #HomelessShelter in Austin, Texas, would love an apartment of his own. But with the little money he makes donating blood plasma, even a $450-a-month tiny home with no running water and a communal bathroom would be a stretch.
"Meanwhile, over 4,500 units the city classifies as affordable — nearly 16% — sit empty.
" 'I don’t make enough money really to afford anything,' Davis, 49, said of the few hundred dollars he earns a month. 'I just keep trying to swim uphill.'
"The poorest people in the U.S. face the most acute shortages of affordable homes. But the majority of low-income housing financed in recent years is for those earning 50% of an area’s median income or above, according to a survey of state housing agencies.
"Some cities are now seeing an uptick in vacancies as rents for these units approach market rates. The result: Apartments designated as affordable sit empty because the poorest of the poor cannot afford them.
"Meanwhile, some people are forced into #homelessness and others into desperate circumstances to pay for housing they can’t afford."
Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/affordable-housing-shortage-poorest-us-80fab2a0fb645e4d629b0ef7e3c2b496
cc: NewsBot (npub1nsc…rjks) Just Bob (npub1ge0…eeuc)
#USPol #Unhoused #Housing #Homeless #EmptyBuildings #VacantBuildings #NoAffordableHousing
DoomsdaysCW
npub1sa…5jgxu
2026-09-07 23:25:43 UTC
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