Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat who represents urban areas of Los Angeles where more than three-quarters of households are renters, on Wednesday launched a caucus focused on renters to address affordability, bureaucratic barriers and lack of housing stock.
It’s a time of crisis that could have economy-wide impacts, Gomez said, calling for the needs of renters to be higher in priority for the American public and Congress.
Moody’s Analytics released a report in May that found the share of American household income needed to rent an average-priced apartment crossed 30 percent, meeting the federal government’s definition for “rent-burdened.” And according to a March report from the nonprofit National Low Income Housing Coalition, the country is falling short on demand for affordable housing by at least 7 million units.
