News Round-Up: No Time for Cuts

The number of renters grows, as does the cost of housing, but Congress may be on the verge of making solutions even more scarce.

Rental housing is a topic of the D.C. city council race, as candidates consider how to ensure renters, who are the majority in the District, can afford housing. Rent control and workforce-affordable housing are on the table.

Apartment Therapy discusses the impact of high-cost housing even on those with good educations and more-than-full-time work. San Francisco may be a great place to have a career, but it’s also the most expensive city to rent in the U.S., according to this year’s Out of Reach.

A report from Knox County, Illinois shows us what’s happening at the opposite end of the income spectrum. The average renter there only ears about half of what it takes to afford a two-bedroom apartment there. The article notes that poverty was already on the rise in the county before the Great Recession, and now 20% of the population lives in poverty.

HUD and USDA affordable housing programs are part of the federal government’s strategy to ensure all Americans have access to safe, decent affordable housing. Affordable Housing Finance reports, however, that if Congress does not act to prevent sequestration from occurring, hundreds of thousands of low income families and individuals will find themselves without the support they need to put a roof overhead.