‘Severe Lack of Affordable Housing’ Demands Action, AARP Tells Congress

We’re calling on Congress to take action to avoid preventable evictions, a year after more than 140,000 people age 55 and older were forced from their homes — accounting for 22.5 percent of all evictions in the U.S. in 2021. According to a recent AARP analysis, more than 419,000 older adults are expected to face eviction this year. 

On Monday, we sent a letter to lawmakers endorsing the Evictions Crisis Act, which would set up an emergency assistance fund to help families and individuals facing unexpected economic hardship, among other measures. The bill would support grants to state and local governments to help low-income households and would establish a national evictions database to help experts better understand how to help people avoid being displaced from their homes. 

Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs, wrote that a “severe lack of affordable housing significantly threatens” Americans’ ability to age in their homes and communities, pointing to rising numbers of older renters and declining homeownership rates among older adults.  

Better housing access and affordability are key priorities for AARP — especially considering more than 10 million older households were cost-burdened by their homes in 2019, meaning that housing costs ate up 30 percent or more of their income. 

Read our letter to lawmakers, and learn more about our efforts to expand housing affordability and choice.