Permanent housing was available for just 9% of people experiencing homelessness in 2025, according to a new National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) report.
The lack of dedicated housing was felt nationwide, with fewer than 1% of Continuums of Care (COC) reporting enough permanent housing for everyone experiencing homelessness at the time of the 2025 point-in-time count.
Unlike other affordable housing studies, “The Shortage Report: Far Too Little Housing Is Available for People Who Are Homeless” focuses specifically on the availability of housing for people experiencing homelessness.
“Affordable housing is an issue in every community, and it’s on the top of people’s minds,” says Daniel Soucy, senior research analyst at NAEH. “It’s being discussed at state houses and local offices. Oftentimes, the issue of homelessness doesn’t get connected to those conversations, but we know, and looking at the report, that the availability of housing and shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness is at crisis levels. There are simply not enough beds for everybody who needs one.”
Homeless service providers have regularly shared how they are doing their best to serve everyone in need in their communities, but it’s impossible when they don’t have enough resources to go around. NAEH wanted to put a number to those concerns, according to Soucy, who authored the report with Joy Moses, NAEH’s vice president of research and evidence.
“The Shortage” drills down to examine the housing that was available in permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, and other permanent housing opportunities specifically for people who were experiencing homelessness. Researchers then compared the number of available beds with the number of people experiencing homelessness at the time of the PIT count, ruling out those beds that were filled.
The key finding reveals that the responses system had enough permanent housing for just 9% of unhoused people and enough shelter for just 35% of unsheltered people.
“No state had homeless response systems with enough permanent housing for everyone experiencing homelessness at the time of the count, and shortages varied widely,” says the report. “For example, Oklahoma had permanent housing for only 1% of its homeless population, while Minnesota had beds for 41%.”
Funding Gaps
“The Shortage” also reports that federal funding levels have not been enough to tackle homelessness. While recent increases in Homelessness Assistance Grants (HAGs) have been helpful, they’ve barely kept up with inflation let alone the large number of people in need each year, according to Soucy.
At a time when 745,652 people were estimated to be homeless on a single night in January 2025, the Trump administration has also proposed severe cuts to homeless and housing programs.
The new report estimates that an additional $9.6 billion in annual funding for HAGs could provide everyone currently staying in a shelter with permanent housing and services. This would be an increase from the current $4.4 billion federal spending on the homeless response system.
While it is a major jump, it is still inexpensive relative to spending on other federal programs, note the authors.
“We know that homeless response systems work well,” Soucy tells Affordable Housing Finance. “Homeless service providers are extremely effective at rehousing people who are experiencing homelessness. They’re also extremely effective at keeping people housed once they exited homelessness, but, as the report indicates, they just don’t receive enough funding to serve everybody who comes to them asking for help. So, what is needed is much larger investments in these systems.”