U.S. Census Bureau Director Responds to FLH-led Coalition Letter on National Housing Loss Rate

The Director of the United States Census Bureau, Robert Santos, responded to a coalition letter developed by the Future of Land and Housing Program, the National Consumer Law Center, and 15 other affordable housing, civil rights, public data, and community development organizations.

FLH's April 2024 letter asked the Census Bureau to begin collecting survey data on involuntary residential displacement as a first step towards establishing a national measure of housing loss that would stand alongside the national unemployment rate as a key indicator of the country’s social and economic well-being. Director Santos' response thoughtfully considers the request and expresses openness to further discussion of the idea.

A housing loss rate — a metric of how many people lose their homes involuntarily over a given period of time, and why — would provide a unified benchmark to track this problem and hold leaders accountable for reducing it. It would also provide actionable data that allow federal, state and local decision-makers to allocate proper resources, pass responsive policies, calibrate housing supply initiatives and otherwise intervene to keep people housed.

Read Director Santos' letter here.