According to a report in rent.com, rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments in the US have increased more than 20% since last year and are now at record highs. One report states that 40% of counties in the U.S. are now considered "unaffordable" for renters.

Suppose that we try to make rental housing more affordable by providing a subsidy to renters (a voucher) who have incomes below a certain level (the particular level is not important; the point is that some renters will receive a subsidy and some will not). A subsidy to renters is essentially a payment from the government to consumers that can only be used to rent housing.

Use supply-and-demand analysis to explain the effect of this subsidy to renters on the equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity of apartments and other rental housing. Your answer should identify what (if anything) shifts and why, and then an explanation in the proper sequence of what happens as a result, and why it happens. The conclusion to your answer should be a statement of whether the subsidy would make apartments more affordable for consumers.

This question focuses on subsidies to renters (vouchers); your answer should address subsidies to renters (vouchers) and only subsidies to renters (vouchers). Other approaches will be considered separately in their own questions.