Looming Crisis Threatens the Viability of Rental Housing Affordable to Lower-Income Residents

Today, AOBA announces the release of a report on the state of rental housing in the District entitled “A Looming Crisis: The Residual Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rent-Controlled and Market Rate Affordable Rental Housing in the District of Columbia.” 

This report analyzes the severe distress in rental housing across the District, concentrated in rent-controlled, market-rate affordable, and dedicated affordable rental housing that serves lower-income residents. In addition to skyrocketing operating costs, these communities and the companies that manage them continue to suffer from the aftermath of the pandemic in the form of soaring, unsustainable rent delinquencies that threaten their viability. The wave of multifamily property foreclosures has already begun, while many more affordable housing communities are teetering on the brink of insolvency.
 
This is a looming crisis that must be addressed. Absent swift action from lawmakers, the District faces the loss of thousands of affordable apartments, leaving residents with fewer options and a gaping hole in the District’s ailing budget.