The National Low Income Housing Coalition, along with the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation, recently released its 2024 Picture of Preservation report that detailed many critical challenges faced by federally assisted housing. 

The context: Federally assisted housing supplies over 5 million rental homes and accounting for 10 percent of the U.S. rental housing stock. But these units face considerable preservation risk. The report identifies three main risks to preservation:

• Exit risk. Affordability restrictions for 374,497 units (7 percent of the stock) are due to expire within the next five years, a sharp rise from 2019. The situation is further complicated by the rise in non-renewable subsidies and a shift toward for-profit ownership.
• Depreciation risk. About 30 percent of the units failed recent inspections, pointing out a need for investment that guarantees livable conditions.
• Appropriation risk: Chronic underfunding by Congress has accounted for a $21.3 billion shortfall since the year 2010, which largely restricts efforts to protect and increase federally assisted units.

These issues are set against an affordable housing crisis that’s steadily growing, with an estimated 7.3 million-home deficit for extremely low-income renters.

One level deeper: The report emphasizes that preservation is not only essential for tenants but also more cost-effective than new construction. Retrofitting older structures for energy efficiency, for example, makes them both cheaper and greener. The report serves as a call to action for policymakers. By prioritizing funding and renewing affordability protections, progress can be made ensure federally assisted housing continues to serve the nation’s most vulnerable families.