A new study out of Cape Breton University suggests the housing crisis in two local communities is much worse than what's been officially reported in federal statistics.

The study, by political scientists Jan Hancock and Andrew Molloy, says the number of people living in unaffordable housing in those Cape Breton Regional Municipality communities is double the number identified by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

"It was quite shocking to see the extent of unaffordable housing, but thes…