New Report Highlights the Deficit of Available and Affordable Rentals for Low-Income Households
The National Low Income Housing Coalition Released "The Gap" report this week.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Twenty-five percent of all households in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District are renters, and there aren’t enough available and affordable units for all of them—especially for those at the lowest income levels.
Almost three-quarters of the 14,000 rental households with incomes at or below 30% of the area median in CD-7 are “severely cost burdened,” meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing.
That’s according to a new report on affordable rental housing from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
“The U.S. has a shortage of 7.1 million rental homes affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes—that is, incomes at or below either the federal poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater,” the report states. “Only 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.”
In CD-7—which includes Fredericksburg City and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and King George, as well as several other central Virginia counties—there are only 33 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income households.
According to the report, the vast majority of extremely low-income renters are “either in the labor force, are seniors, have a disability, are in school, or are single adult caregivers.”
In addition, Black and Latino households make up a disproportionate percent of extremely low-income households, the report states, and are therefore “disproportionately impacted by the housing shortage.”
The deficit in CD-7 improves slightly for households making at or below half the median income. There are 52 available and affordable units for every 100 renters at this level, and there are 95 for every 100 making at or below 80% of the area median income.
The area median income for Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania—which are considered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria fair market rent area—is $154,700. Thirty percent of that is an annual income of $46,410.
The area median income in Caroline is $102,800 and 30% of that is $30,840. King George’s area median income is $124,000 and 30% of that is $37,200.
Fair market rent last year in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area was $2,045 for a two-bedroom apartment. In Caroline, it was $1,181, and in King George it was $1,400.
The report notes that “the private market on its own fails to provide an adequate supply of affordable, decent, and accessible housing for the lowest-income renters.”
It stressed that subsidies are necessary to produce new affordable rental housing, preserve existing housing, and make up the difference between fair market rent and what renters can afford, which in CD-7 ranges between $771 and $1,160 for renters making at or below 30% of the area median income.
“Budget cuts to federal affordable housing programs will only deepen existing challenges and cause further harm to America’s lowest-income renters,” the report states.
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