Unaffordable rents are a motivator and a barrier to moving, according to a new survey of renters by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
About 38.4% of renters who considered moving but did not cited unaffordable rent as the reason why they wanted to move, while 70% of these almost-movers said they did not move because they could not find a home with affordable rent.
The “2025 National Renter Survey” report is NLIHC’s first nationally representative survey focused on renter experiences related to moving, housing costs and assistance, unique needs of renter households with disabilities or chronic health conditions, and the safety and habitability of rental housing.
“Alongside the rising costs of rent and utilities, renters are increasingly confronted with unexpected housing-related expenses. Renters with low incomes, renters of color, renters with disabilities, and older renters often bear a disproportionate burden in navigating challenges and obtaining the resources needed to stably live,” said NLIHC president and CEO Renee M. Willis. “The 2025 National Renter Survey has shined a national spotlight on the under-explored experiences and perspectives of renters, addressing an information gap and providing data that can be used to inform federal housing advocacy and targeted policy development.”
Other findings from the report include:
- 1 in 5 renters who moved at least once in the last two years said they were turned down for one or more rental homes they applied for; a third of these renters were never told why their application for housing was rejected;
- Over half of renters (54.8%) who struggled to pay rent reported that they could not pay some or all of the rent on time, were charged a fee for late rent, or both at some point in the last two years; 1 in 10 of these renters said this difficulty resulted in some form of eviction;
- Only 15.1% of renters who stopped receiving housing assistance sometime in the last two years said their household stopped receiving it because they no longer needed it;
- Among renters who applied for housing assistance in the last two years but did not receive it, 37.8% were denied, 36.8% were waitlisted, and 17.3% never heard back about their application. A quarter of renters whose applications were denied were never told the reason for the denial;
- Renters who identify as Black or African-American, who have or live with someone who has a disability or chronic health condition, or who live in lower-income households reported struggling to pay rent more frequently over the last two years than other demographic groups; and
- A greater share of renters who rent from property management or rental companies (76.9%) or public housing authorities (59.5%) reported their landlords charging at least one of five junk fees, as compared with 41.1% of renters who rent from an individual or a family; and
The survey collected responses from 3,734 eligible renters living in households across the United States.