New Report Finds Affordable Rental Housing Supply Falls Critically Short

May 15, 2026 | by Anna Orendain

Categories: Affordable Housing, Rental Housing

In March, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) published their annual GAP report, which highlights the ongoing housing challenges that extremely low-income renters (households earning 30% or less of the area median income) face in 2026.

Taking A Closer Look at Texas 

The report breaks down its findings by state. Below are key points from the data specific to Texas. 

• There are currently only 26 affordable and available units for extremely low-income families per every 100 households. In total, Texas has a shortage of 708,661 affordable and available units for households earning at or below 30% area median income.
• San Antonio still maintains the greatest number of affordable, available units amongst Texas' large metropolitan areas with 24 units available for every 100 extremely low-income households. Austin closely follows with 23, then Dallas-Fort Worth with 18, and Houston with 17, one of the lowest numbers in the entire country.
• In the state of Texas, 91% of extremely low-income households are cost burdened. This means that they pay more than 30% of their income towards housing costs. 
• Similarly, 79% of extremely low-income households in Texas are severely cost burdened, paying more than 50% of their income on housing.
• Very low-income renters (households that earn at or below 50% area median income) also face a tough housing market, with a housing deficit of 881,014 units that would be affordable enough for these households. This means there are only 44 available and affordable units for every 100 of these households across the state.
•  Among the major metropolitan areas, San Antonio leads with 43 affordable units available for every 100 very low-income households. Houston has 40, Austin has 40, and Dallas-Fort Worth has 35.

Data breakdowns for each individual state can be found here.

Where Rental Housing Stands on a National Level

The Gap Report also provides an update on what rental housing affordability looks like on a national level with the following data:

• There's a critical, nation-wide shortage of 7.2 million rental homes that are affordable and available to the nation's extremely low-income renters.
• Nationally, there are just 35 affordable and available units per 100 extremely low-income renter households.
• Extremely low-income renters continue to face a shortage of affordable rental homes throughout every state and every metropolitan area across the U.S.
• 87% of extremely low-income renters are cost burdened (paying more than 30% of their income towards housing) and 74% of them are severely cost burdened (paying more than 50% of their income towards housing).

HOW TSAHC HELPs EXTREMELY Low- AND VERY Low-Income Households

TSAHC provides training and capacity building to supportive housing developers that make housing extremely low-income Texans a priority. Since 2020, we've partnered with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to administer the Texas Supportive Housing Institute, which provides training and technical assistance to development teams interested in building and operating supportive housing in their communities. Since its inception, we've trained fourteen development teams across the state that are working to bring hundreds of new supportive housing units online.

Moreover, TSAHC recently issued bonds to support the development of Burleson Studios and The Bloom at Lamar Square. Both Foundation Communities developments, Burleson Studios will have 104 units of supportive housing for very low- and extremely low-income households. Meanwhile, the Bloom at Lamar Square will create 58-units of service-enriched affordable rental housing for persons with disabilities. Currently, 15 units will be reserved for extremely low-income households and 28 units for very low-income households, and 15 units for households earning 60% of the area median income.

We also provide grants to nonprofits to assist very low-income households through our Texas Foundations Fund program. One of the funding priorities is for supportive services that complement deeply affordable housing communities. To date, we have invested more than $11 million in grant funding through this program. 

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