12/04/2025
A startling truth sits at the heart of our city: nearly 1,900 "affordable housing" units remain empty in Portland, Oregon, while thousands face homelessness. This disconnect highlights a pressing housing crisis impacting our neighbors and contributes to the growing issue of the **Portland homeless population. We believe in ensuring dignity and well-being for everyone who needs support, and it's time for our community to address this profound problem together.
✅ What’s going on — the vacancy situation
* According to a recent vacancy report, Home Forward — which manages 6,847 affordable units — currently has about 955–956 empty units. That’s roughly a **14% vacancy rate** in its affordable housing stock. ([Willamette Week][2])
* More broadly, a 2025 study by real-estate analytics shows nearly **1,900 affordable/subsidized apartments in Portland are vacant**, which is reportedly a 10-year high. ([https://www.kptv.com][1])
* For context: citywide vacancy rates for all apartments are much lower — making this elevated empty-unit rate among subsidized housing notable. ([Willamette Week][2])
This raises a stark contrast: many people remain unhoused or in shelters even as affordable units sit unoccupied.
🏠 What landlords / building owners / housing authority are saying / doing
- Rent & Market Conditions Have Shifted
One major explanation offered by housing-authority spokespersons is that **market-rate rents have dropped**, in some cases approaching or undercutting the rents charged for subsidized “60% area median income (AMI)” units. That makes subsidized units less financially competitive, which reduces demand. ([Willamette Week][2])
As a result, building owners sometimes choose — or accept — keeping units vacant rather than renting them under income-restricted rules. ([Willamette Week][2])
- Administrative / Bureaucratic Bottlenecks & Waitlist Challenges
Another driver: **inefficiencies in waitlists and management processes**. Internal reviews of some subsidized programs found that as many as 10–15% of units remained empty because of “waitlist problems”: incomplete or outdated applicant data, slow processing, mismatched unit eligibility (household size, income level, etc.), and delays in matching applicants to units. ([mikethunderphillips.substack.com][3])
In some cases, units go empty for months because the housing authority hasn’t successfully filled them — even when there are people in need. ([mikethunderphillips.substack.com][3])
- Financial Pressure & Funding Shortfalls
Operating and maintaining subsidized housing has become more expensive recently. At the same time, the budgets for agencies like Home Forward have been squeezed — leading to staff cuts and service reductions. That makes it harder to manage occupancy, outreach, and unit turnover efficiently. ([opb][4])
Because of those pressures, some landlords/owners may be less aggressive about filling units, or may not have the capacity to process applicants quickly.
- Some Owners Are Concerned About Returns / Viability
Especially among owners/developers relying on subsidies or tax-credit programs, some renters have noted (on forums) that “low-income housing is simply not profitable” under current market and subsidy conditions. As one commenter put it:
> “You do lose money. But you lose a lot less money with an empty unit than with a tenant in it who is not paying and tearing up the unit.” ([Reddit][5])
This suggests for some private owners or operators, the financial risks of subsidized housing lead them to tolerate vacancy rather than rent.
🔄 What landlords / authority / city are working on — or acknowledging needs to fix
* Some stakeholders are voicing concerns openly — for example, a local leader called the vacancy numbers “astonishing and alarming,” given that people remain unhoused while thousands of affordable units go unused. ([https://www.kptv.com][1])
* The city and housing advocates are seeking to identify and “unclog” the bottlenecks preventing occupancy: better waitlist administration, improved allocation methods, outreach to eligible tenants. ([https://www.kptv.com][1])
* There is also discussion about the broader structural challenges — rising costs to maintain affordable housing, shrinking subsidy funds, and shifting market dynamics — and the need to adapt how “affordable housing” is funded and managed going forward. ([opb][4])
⚠️ What critics & some landlords argue — inefficiency and unintended consequences
* Some landlords/developers argue that subsidized housing — especially for very low-income tenants — is financially inefficient. According to them, the administrative overhead, subsidy reliance, and rent restrictions make the units a burden compared to market-rate properties. ([Reddit][6])
* There are claims (in public forums) that subsidies (like via tax credits) may encourage “inefficient developers” who build or manage low-income housing less effectively, leading to inferior construction or maintenance, which further reduces demand for those units. ([Reddit][6])
* From a policy standpoint, some observers argue that building more subsidized units isn’t enough — if the system managing them is disorganized (waitlists, funding, maintenance), then many units may stay empty even while demand exists. ([opb][7])
# # 🧮 In Short: Mixed reactions — from frustration and concern to structural skepticism
The response from landlords and building owners in Portland to this vacancy crisis is not unified. Some — particularly public housing providers and housing advocates — treat the empty units as a serious wasted opportunity, signaling problems in allocation and management that must be fixed. Others — especially private or subsidized-housing operators — suggest economic and bureaucratic realities make low-income housing difficult to sustain profitably under current market and policy conditions. Meanwhile, city officials and housing authorities acknowledge the “bottlenecks” and are under growing pressure to improve how affordable housing is allocated, managed, and funded.
If you like — I can **pull up 3–5 recent (last 6 months) direct quotes** from landlords, housing-authority leaders, or city officials reacting to the vacancy data — that gives a more concrete sense of what they’re saying publicly. Do you want me to fetch those for you now?
[1]: https://www.kptv.com/2025/12/03/number-vacant-affordable-housing-units-portland-reaches-10-year-high-study-shows/?outputType=amp&utm_source=chatgpt.com "Number of vacant affordable housing units in Portland reaches 10-year high, study shows"
[2]: https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2025/12/03/portlands-housing-authority-sits-on-955-empty-apartments/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Portland's Housing Authority Sits On 955 Empty Apartments"
[3]: https://mikethunderphillips.substack.com/p/portlands-empty-affordable-apartments?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Portland's Empty 'Affordable' Apartments Are a Warning to ..."
[4]: https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/01/portland-oregon-home-forward-housing-rent/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Budget cuts to public housing authority could worsen ..."
[5]: https://www.reddit.com/r/PortlandOR/comments/1pcbdze/nearly_1900_affordable_portland_apartments_sit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Nearly 1900 affordable Portland apartments sit empty while ..."
[6]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1pci2yh/nearly_1900_affordable_portland_apartments_sit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Nearly 1900 affordable Portland apartments sit empty while ..."
[7]: https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/15/portland-oregon-housing-affordable-rent-inclusionary-audit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Portland program that requires developers build affordable ..."
A Portland policy meant to expand the city’s supply of affordable housing is falling short, according to an audit. The report, released by the city auditor Wednesday, finds that the city’s Inclusionary Housing program isn’t meeting its goal to create affordable apartments for Portlanders that ...
