Vacant Units, Full Waiting Lists: The Staffing Crisis Behind Affordable Housing’s Paradox

Over the past 18 months, vacancy rates at affordable housing properties across the country have climbed to levels not seen in over a decade. At first glance, this seems baffling. Demand for affordable housing is at an all-time high—waiting lists stretch for months, even years, and countless households are struggling with severe housing insecurity. So why are so many units sitting empty?

The issue isn’t demand—it’s a silent operational crisis: a widespread staffing shortage that’s paralyzing the affordable housing industry.

Property management firms are grappling with historic challenges in hiring and retaining qualified staff. The shortage of service technicians—those essential workers who prepare vacant units for occupancy—is particularly acute. Without them, units can’t be turned, cleaned, repaired, or inspected. At the same time, property managers and compliance professionals—the backbone of day-to-day operations—are also exiting the industry at alarming rates.

This staffing shortfall is more than a workforce issue; it’s undermining the financial stability of entire property portfolios.

High turnover means newly hired employees often arrive with little to no experience in affordable housing. They require training—but strained operating budgets and rising salary expectations leave little room for investment in onboarding. The result? A revolving door of underprepared staff, stagnant units, and rising vacancy loss. The situation is unsustainable.

That’s where AHTA steps in.

The Affordable Housing Training Academy (AHTA) provides a comprehensive, online, on-demand training platform built specifically for the affordable housing industry. Our targeted courses—like Maintenance: Unit Make Ready and How to Find, Hire, and Keep Maintenance Service Technicians—are designed to address today’s urgent workforce challenges head-on. Whether you're onboarding a new maintenance tech or upskilling your compliance team, AHTA delivers the tools your staff needs to succeed from day one.

In an industry where every vacant unit translates to lost revenue, training is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. The difference between a performing and a non-performing property may come down to how quickly and effectively your team can fill those empty units.

Now is the time to invest in the people on the frontlines. The AHTA training platform is built to support that mission—empowering property management professionals to rise to today’s challenges with confidence and competence. Learn more at https://ahta.online.

Tony DiBlasi

President, AHTA