ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando was named the worst metropolitan area in the U.S. for affordable housing due to the scarcity extremely low-income renters face finding housing, according to a new report by The National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Orlando has 13 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households compared to 17 in 2018, according to the annual report detailing the shortage of affordable housing in the U.S.
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Other notable cities included in the report were Las Vegas with 14 affordable homes, Riverside, California with 17 homes and Los Angeles with 18 homes.
The report comes after Orlando was ranked No. 17 on “Top 100 Best Places To Live” by Livability.com.
The housing report says the country as a whole has a shortage of about 7 million rental homes, that are affordable and available to low-income renters, with only 37 units available for every 100 households that need them.
Pittsburgh was listed as being the best city for affordable housing with 51 affordable places to live for every 100 extremely low-income household.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has decided to take action against the affordable housing issue, announcing this week that at least 10 projects are already being started in the city, according to a report by the Orlando Sentinel.
One of the main hurdles Orlando will have to overcome is the lack of support from the community. Florida lawmakers have repeatedly moved money from the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Funds in order to cover expenses, which include tax cuts, the Sentinel reports.
Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed this year to use the Sadowski funds for affordable housing, a law that would be created by the House and Senate.
Are you surprised by what the report found? Do you agree with lawmakers' decisions? Let us know in the comments below.