Survey: The Rent Is Too Damn High Nationwide

In what is probably not a surprise to any New York renter, almost twenty percent of respondents said they struggled to make monthly rent payments in a survey published by Apartment List.

18 percent of respondents couldn't pay the full amount of rent at least once in the past three months. 3.3 percent reported that they'd been evicted in the past, which is up from 2.8 percent in 2015.

The apartment listing service also found that the most expensive metro areas had the lowest eviction rates, including New York City, which was 7th in lowest eviction rates. The survey noted that "it seems to be driven by the fact that the most expensive area also tend to have the best job opportunities." Though the survey also said that a low eviction rate doesn't mean that evictions aren't an issue in those cities. "Our analysis is done at the metro level, meaning that we do not capture nuance in how eviction rates vary within metros."

In New York City, 3.7 percent of low-income renters were evicted, 1.9 percent of middle-income renters were evicted, and 1.1 percent of high-income renters were evicted.

While eviction rates remain compartively low, the bad behavior of New York landlords—including those who leave 95-year-olds without working stoves—and the issue of affordable housing have long been an issue for New Yorkers and advocates who feel the city hasn't done enough to combat the issue.

This past week, Mayor de Blasio announced a 100,000 unit expansion of his affordable housing plan, making the goal to build and preserve 300,000 affordable housing units by 2026.

The new program, which focuses on seniors and rent-regulated tenants,will by funded with $150 million per year for the next four years and will help nonprofits buy 30 to 50 unit buildings vulnerable to speculators. An aspect of the program called Neighborhood Pillars will be funded with $275 million to keep rents affordable while covering mortgages and rehabilitation costs. Neighborhood Pillars will also leverage private and philanthropic contributions, according to HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer.