FROM THE STORY: Six of every 10 households that rent in Rhode Island spend more than half of their income on housing alone, and are at risk of homelessness, according to a newly released report.On Thursday, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released “The Gap” report, which is an annual compilation of data that examines the shortage of affordable homes across the country. The US has a total shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income rental households.

Between 2019 and 2021, the national shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income renters worsened by more than half a million units, according to the NLIHC. Some rental inflation has cooled during the first quarter of 2023, but those with extremely low incomes are still facing significant barriers to finding and maintaining affordable housing. In many cases, their incomes are insufficient to cover even modest rental costs, NLIHC president and CEO Diane Yentel said.

In Rhode Island, there are 51,596 extremely low-income households, but only 27,547 rental homes are affordable and available to them, the report found, which shows a shortage of 24,049 affordable and available units just for this income bracket.