CityLab Daily: Subsidized Renters Struggle to Find Housing Amid Costly Rents
Also today: How formerly incarcerated people won protection in Atlanta, and protests in Valparaiso, Chile, leave a Unesco heritage site in disrepair.
After becoming wheelchair-bound at age 53, Valerie Savedra struggled to find a new home that her Section 8 voucher would cover in Tucson.
Photographer: Cassidy Araiza/Bloomberg
The US rental market has become relentless, emerging as one of the main drivers behind overall inflation in the country. Skyrocketing prices have been particularly unforgiving to low-income renters who use Section 8 housing choice vouchers to subsidize their rent, with many struggling to find apartments that both meet their needs and fall within a tight budget. Demand for assistance soared to historic levels in 2022, while the share of tenants successfully finding housing slumped, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD adjusts the voucher cap annually to account for changes in rent prices, but housing advocates say the program needs more funding, Sarah Holder and Airielle Lowe report. Today on CityLab: Relentless Rents Leave Few Choices for Americans Relying on Assistance