The median rent has skyrocketed more than 13% so far this year, far outpacing both wage growth and the average 3% increases in the years leading up to the pandemic.

In fact, rents have gotten so expensive that full-time minimum-wage workers can now afford one-bedroom apartments in just 7% of U.S. counties. Even for solidly middle-class young professionals, renting a house or apartment by themselves is often completely untenable in major cities like New York or San Francisco -- both financially and emotionally. Many choose to find roommates not just to split the cost, but also for the social benefits they provide. In fact, 7.5% of 25-34-year-olds now live with non-familial roommates, nearly double the 4.3% who did so a generation ago in 1990.

And with home prices soaring, buying is out of the question for tens of millions of families. That means folks are renting for far longer than earlier generations -- further increasing competition for rentals in hot neighborhoods.

There's a solution to this rent affordability crisis -- and it's not the one that housing wonks typically advocate.

For decades, experts in housing policy, as well as activists who care about making rents more affordable, have advocated for looser zoning laws. That'd allow developers to construct more units in desirable neighborhoods -- thereby increasing housing supply and driving down rents.

It's a straightforward solution -- but almost politically impossible to implement. Existing homeowners often vociferously oppose new construction projects, because they worry that it'll depress home prices, increase traffic, worsen crowding at local parks and schools, and generally lower residents' quality of life. Zoning boards tend to cater to these concerned homeowners, who vote in local elections at much higher rates than renters.

This dynamic hasn't changed for decades -- and it's unlikely to anytime soon. Just consider the recent political scuffles over housing in California, which infamously boasts some of the nation's most expensive rents. Five separate bills designed to boost housing construction died in the state legislature last year, despite activists' hopes that 2020 would be the "year of housing production."

Those in favor of massively increasing new construction, the so-called YIMBYs ("yes in my backyard") haven't fared much better elsewhere. The stock of homes grew at an average annual rate of 1.7% between 1968 and 2000. Over the last decade, however, housing supply rose by just 0.7% a year on average -- hardly enough to keep up with demand. The nation is currently short anywhere from 5 million to 6.8 million homes.

Even before the pandemic, rents were exacting a significant financial toll on American households. In 2018, roughly a quarter of renters paid at least half of their monthly income to landlords, according to a recent analysis by Harvard University's Joint Center on Housing Studies.

And given that Black and Latino Americans are twice as likely as whites to rent, unaffordable rents have exacerbated racial inequities.

With the push for more construction at a political impasse, it's time for housing wonks to start considering other ways to address America's rent crisis. Residential real estate platforms like my own company, Bungalow, and "co-living" start-ups, like PadSplit or Roomrs, can be part of the solution and create lasting, positive change within America's housing market.

Many of these firms use the existing supply of residential housing more efficiently. Essentially, they rent out individual rooms in single-family homes and apartments, and sometimes transform under-utilized spaces like offices and dens into new bedrooms. This enables four or five people to comfortably live in a house that previously might have accommodated just two or three.

This, of course, means cheaper rents per person. For instance, we might lease a bedroom in a furnished San Francisco home for about $1,000 monthly, including Wi-Fi and a regular cleaning service. A comparable rental via Craigslist would likely run closer to $1,700, whereas a studio could easily exceed $3,000.

And, at a time when 36% of all Americans and 61% of young adults report feeling "serious loneliness," shared living spaces can create a much-needed sense of community -- one that roommates will hopefully spread beyond their refurbished homes, throughout their neighborhoods and cities.

Rents will remain exorbitantly high until politicians permit more new construction. But if past is prologue, zoning reforms won't happen anytime soon. In the meantime, using existing rental space more wisely can alleviate some of the existing housing accessibility concerns nationwide.

Andrew Collins is the co-founder and CEO of Bungalow, a residential real estate platform for roommate living.