Combating Rising Evictions in the District of Columbia with Housing Subsidies

Since the onset of the pandemic, local leaders have used several policy tools, including eviction moratoria, new court processes, and emergency rental assistance to prevent evictions. The District of Columbia made use of federal emergency rental assistance resources through the STAY DC program, deploying $404 million in rental assistance between 2020 and 2021 that helped keep residents housed. But with the eviction moratoria long ended and federal resources nearly all expended, tenants remain unable to afford their rent. The number of evictions executed in 2024 is on pace to reach prepandemic levels, and an estimated 14 percent of DC renter households reported that they are not caught up on their rent payments. Furthermore, an estimated 58,800 renter households with very low incomes in DC have higher housing costs than what they can afford to pay.

Fully funded housing assistance programs that effectively work together can provide a more comprehensive housing support system that would keep DC households with low incomes stably housed, help prevent further displacement, and ensure that households receive the appropriate type of assistance based on their needs. With this in mind, and to guide future funding discussions, we estimate how many more eligible households in DC could be served by deep subsidies, shallow subsidies, and rental assistance that serve households with incomes below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI).