According to a new report released today by the Homes for All Campaign of Right to the City, the United States is in a new phase of the housing crisis. The report, Rise of the Renter Nation: Solutions to the Housing Affordability Crisis reveals details on a new phase in the housing crisis — from skyrocketing costs to stagnant wages and corporations driving up home prices with speculative investments — as well as laying out key solutions. As the possibility of homeownership dwindles for many, the rental market is becoming the only option for millions of families, especially for low-income communities of color, making sky-high rents all the more concerning.
Dozens of community organizations are joining with families affected by the housing crisis this month to fight back, with actions in 11 cities and counting including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and more.
See a full list of actions and details here: http://homesforall.org/campaign/events/
Key toplines from the rents report include:
- We are in the midst of an affordability and gentrification crisis: Incomes have remained relatively stagnant since 2000, but rent and housing costs are on the rise.
- The rental market is soaring, homeownership is dwindling in America. The vast majority of the net increase in renters over the next decade will be people of color, with Latinos alone accounting for more than half of the total.
- Corporations like The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) and American Homes4Rent have spent approximately $20 Billion dollars buying up single family homes in the last 2 years, a key cause of skyrocketing housing prices, especially in low income communities.
- There are direct solutions that will start to address this crisis: by funding the National Housing Trust Fund, and passing Renter’s Bill of Rights legislation in cities across America.
“We are in a new phase of the housing crisis,” said Rachel Laforest, Executive Director, of Right to the City. “This new report shows that skyrocketing housing costs have met stagnant wages to effectively push affordable housing out of reach for millions– especially in low income communities of color. We have to take action to avoid yet another cycle of families on the streets, and yet another pummelling of low income and middle class Americans.”
This month, the Homes for All campaign will collaborate with numerous fair housing organizations across the nation in attempt to demand immediate action, spread awareness about the current state of the housing market and the burgeoning status of the rental market.
See the full report here: http://bit.ly/HFA_RenterNation_Full_Embargoed
