Demand for affordable rental housing throughout the United States continues to outpace the supply available according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Enterprise Community Partners Inc.

The report, Bending the Cost Curve: Solutions to Expand the Supply of Affordable Rentals, is the result of interviews and roundtable discussions co-hosted by the two organizations that took place over 16 months. Nearly 200 developers, financiers and policy makers in ten markets — including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Minneapolis and Houston — participated.

In 2011, there were only 6.9 million affordable rentals in the United States, in comparison to 11.8 million extremely low-income renters. The supply gap continues to widen, increasing by 3-million renters between 2001 and 2011.

“In an era of growing demand and declining government financial support for affordable rental housing, it is more important than ever to deliver affordable housing as effectively as possible,” the report says. “Bending the cost curve will enable developers to deliver additional affordable rental homes and help jurisdictions provide more housing choices, meet the growing need for affordable rentals, and ensure that individuals and families across a range of incomes have a place to call home within the community.”

The report also looks at how regulatory barriers will need to be overcome to increase the inventory of affordable housing.