Orlando's Affordable Housing Crisis

An annual report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that the Orlando, Florida metro has the third-greatest rental shortage in the country, behind Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Florida lawmakers spent $185 million allocated for housing on other priorities, including school safety. About $109 million of affordable housing-designated funds are being spent as intended. Jaimie Ross, president of the Florida Housing Coalition, tells The Orlando Sentinel, “The affordable housing shortage in Central Florida has been exacerbated year after year as the Florida Legislature appropriates Florida’s housing trust funds for uses having nothing to do with housing." She adds that an influx of hurricane evacuees from Puerto Rico to Orlando has exacerbated the metro's affordable housing needs.

For every 100 of the lowest-income residents in Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties, only 18 houses were within their reach financially. Of the top 50 metro areas nationally, only Las Vegas and Los Angeles had a greater shortage than Orlando’s. Even pricier housing markets, such as Boston or Pittsburgh, had more affordable housing stock and support programs than Orlando.

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