CORRESPONDENCE - WS-1 OPPOSITION

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32 The gap between the supply of and demand for rental housing assistance is still growing. Reversing this trend will require increased efforts to preserve assisted units, construct new affordable rentals, and expand the availability of vouchers and other forms of assistance. More immediately, the lack of affordable rentals in high-cost metros may be putting low-income households at greater risk of housing instability, evictions, and homelessness. The need for additional rental housing is especially acute in areas recently devastated by hurricanes and wildfires. REDUCED ACCESS TO RENTAL ASSISTANCE Between 2001 and 2015, the number of very low-income households (making less than 50 percent of area median) was up 29 percent, from 14.9 million to 19.2 million. According to HUD's Worst Case Needs 2017 Report to Congress, this includes a comparably large increase in the number of extremely low-income households (mak- ing less than 30 percent of area median) from 8.7 million to 11.3 mil- lion households. At the same time, the number of very low-income households receiving rental assistance rose only 14 percent, from 4.2 million to 4.8 million. As a result, the share of very low-income households that receive rental assistance declined from 28 percent to 25 percent over this period. The growing gap between need and assistance is evident in the long waiting lists for rental assistance in most cities. In fact, many local housing agencies have closed their waitlists in response to oversubscribed demand, sometimes not accepting new applicants for years. In one extreme example, Los Angeles reopened its waitlist for housing choice vouchers in October 2017 for the first time in 13 years, anticipating as many as 600,000 applications for 20,000 spots on the list. The shortfall in rental assistance has been accompanied by changes in the stock of federally assisted units. HUD data indicate that the number of public housing units fell from 1.1 million in 2006 to 1.0 million in 2016, while the number of privately owned units with project -based subsidies was down from 1.4 million to 1.3 million. These declines have been offset by an increase in hous- ing choice vouchers, from 2.0 million to 2.3 million. The number of households receiving assistance from the US Department of Agriculture also rose modestly from 263,000 in 2008 to 269,000 in 2016. Although the net change across programs is positive, the increase has not kept pace with growth in the number of very low- income households. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program remains the primary source of support for new affordable rental units. Between 2006 and 2015, the stock of LIHTC units expanded from 1.6 mil- lion to 2.3 million. While adding to the overall supply of affordable