Report: DC Needs ‘Immense’ Funding Increase to Address Housing Crisis

An analysis from the Urban Institute by Elizabeth Burton, Leah Hendey, and Peter A. Tatian highlights renter assistance programs in Washington, D.C., which remain inadequate for stemming the rising number of evictions. “The number of evictions executed in 2024 is on pace to reach prepandemic levels, and an estimated 14 percent of DC renter households reported that they are not caught up on their rent payments.”

The analysis delves into various housing assistance programs and estimates “how many more eligible households in DC could be served by deep subsidies, shallow subsidies, and rental assistance that serve households with incomes below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI).”

The report concludes that “DC needs significant funding increases for housing assistance programs to prevent increased housing instability, evictions, homelessness, and displacement.” The authors call for a boost in assistance programs that they acknowledge require “an immense increase in funding and the political will to reform the housing system.”

Aside from the impact of assistance programs on helping residents stay in their homes and reduce housing costs, the authors write, “the cost of failing to address housing instability has other short- and long-term funding impacts, including direct eviction costs and funding for mental and physical health, schools, and homelessness services.”