Advocacy Update and Action Alert
March 11, 2013

In This Issue

Governor Quinn's Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Proposal: A Mix of Flat Funding and Cuts

Action Alert: FY 2013 Federal Budget Bills Moving in House and Senate—More Calls Needed to Senators Durbin and Kirk

Hot Rental Market Makes Affordable Housing Out of Reach for Many in Illinois

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Extreme Affordable Housing Shortage Continues For Illinois Renters
February 28, 2013

A new report shows that while the rental housing market may be booming, extremely low-income renters in Illinois are very unlikely to find an apartment they can afford.

The report, Housing Spotlight: America’s Affordable Housing Shortage, and How to End It, jointly released by Housing Action Illinois and the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a D.C.- based research and policy organization, shows that there are only 28 rental homes affordable and available for every 100 extremely low-income renters in Illinois. Extremely low-income households have incomes at or below 30% of the area median income.

In the report, NLIHC analyzes data from the 2011 American Community Survey to compare the number of renters in a variety of income categories with the number of rental units priced at rents that are affordable to them. The report also explores the number of rental homes available to each category; that is, the number of units not occupied by renters with higher incomes. Nationally, there are only 30 rental units affordable and available for every 100 extremely low-income renters.

In Illinois, a family of four is considered by the federal government to be extremely low-income if their annual household income is at or below $20,850. For a single person, the amount is $14,600.

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