Report shows low-cost private housing in Washington, DC virtually eliminated

Report shows low-cost private housing in Washington, DC virtually eliminated

Report shows low-cost private housing in Washington, DC virtually eliminated

By Nick Barrickman
16 March 2015

A new report released by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) shows a massive decline of affordable living units in the nation’s capital since 2002. Since the early part of the last decade, homes in the District renting for $800 or less monthly have dwindled from a stock of roughly 60,000 units in 2002 (representing 40 percent of the total housing in the city) to 33,000 as of 2013, or less than 20 percent.

The report calculates that this amount of available low-cost housing corresponds to the total number of subsidized living units currently existing in the city, which government records show to be around 36,000. “These findings suggest that there is very little low-cost housing in the private market and that subsidized housing is now virtually the only source of inexpensive apartments” in Washington, DC, the author states.

“The loss of affordable housing threatens the physical and mental health of families, makes it harder for adults to find and keep a job,” it continues, adding that such a situation “creates instability for children that makes it hard to focus at school, and leaves thousands at risk of homelessness at any given moment.”