Report: Florida Renters Are the Most 'Burdened' in Nation
Monday, December 16, 2013
By: Carmel Delshad

December 16th, 2013 | WMFE- Florida renters have the highest rental cost burden in the nation, according to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, which shows many Floridians pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

According to the Havard University study, almost 60 percent of the state's renters are cost burdened, which means they spend more than a third of their income on housing. That statistic hits home at the Heart of Florida United Way in Orlando.

About 20 operators answer phone calls and online chats at the office. Many of those callers are seeking housing help.

Larry Olness, vice president of Community Services at the Heart of Florida United Way, says that of the roughly 400 calls the center gets per day, about half of them involve housing help.

“‘It comes down to, ‘Do I pay my utility bill or do I eat today? Do I feed my children and myself, or just my children?’” says Olness.

He says about one-third of all callers in November 2013 asked for housing help, a 3 percent increase from November 2012. So far, about 1,200 families have requested housing assistance this year.

Olness says this may be the new norm for thousands of families and Dan McCue, research manager for the Harvard report, agrees.

"It has been and is kind of a status quo in terms of just the sheer numbers of renters who are severely cost burdened," says McCue.

The Harvard report ranks Florida at the top of another list—those who are severely cost burdened and pay half of their income or more on rent.  Census Data shows the Orlando and Kissimmee areas have one of the top percentage of cost burdened renters in the nation.