Rental Housing: A National Problem That Needs Immediate Attention

Although about 35 percent of American families live in rental housing, they are faced today with the Nation's lowest recorded rental housing vacancy rate and are finding it increasingly difficult to locate affordable rental units. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is the principal Federal agency responsible for administering programs designed to encourage the production or maintenance of multifamily rental housing. The Federal role has been primarily to assist in the financing of construction, purchase, or rehabilitation of rental housing, and to assist lower income families to obtain decent housing.