Shimberg Center for Housing Studies publishes
2013 Rental Market Study on Affordable Housing Needs

The University of Florida's Shimberg Center for Housing Studies recently published a report on affordable housing needs in Florida. The report confirms that there is a lack of available, affordable rental homes throughout our state.

• In 2013, an estimated 737,435 low income renter households are cost burdened (rent + utilities = 40% or more of income).
• Florida has only 31 affordable and available rental units for every 100 households with incomes of 0-30% AMI; a deficit of more than 315,000 units.
• The highest shortages of affordable rental housing in the state are in southeast Florida, including Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

The report also shows that the trend towards renting homes is increasing; an increase of 29% from 2005 to 2011; while home ownership declined during the same period. Extremely low-income households - that is, those with annual income at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI) - continue to be the most cost burdened, although the cost burden affects families across many income levels.

The Shimberg study on Affordable Housing Needs includes detailed numbers of cost burdened households by county and MSA, household size, and age of householder, The study concludes that there is a "severity of need for affordable and available units throughout the state for households at the lowest income levels... To the extent affordable housing programs can preserve or create units that are affordable to extremely low-income households, these units are needed in every area of the state."

To read the entire report, click here.
To learn more about the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, click here. 
To learn more about FCLF and financing for preserving affordable rental housing in Florida, click here.