It's Getting Harder to Pay the Rent in America; A Senator's Plan To Build 400,000 Affordable Units..

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

A Senator's Plan To Build 400,000 Affordable Units Over 10 Years Is Just A Drop In The Bucket.

March 24, 2016 — 2:41 PM EDT

It's been more than 15 years since Congress increased funding for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the government's primary method for encouraging construction of affordable housing. On Thursday, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is to announce a plan that calls for Congress to spend 50 percent more on the program, enough to build as many as 400,000 homes over the next decade.

That makes the Democrat's plan an ambitious attempt to increase the stock of affordable rental housing, one that comes in the face of potential opposition by a Republican majority, along with the legislative gridlock of a presidential election year. It’s also just a drop in the bucket.

There are 3.9 million low-income households that lack access to affordable housing, according to Cantwell's office. Just as troubling, the number of U.S. households spending 50 percent of their income on rent could increase to 15 million by 2025, according to a study by Harvard’s Joint Center on Housing Studies and Enterprise Community Partners.

Another way to think of 400,000 units is that it’s roughly equal to the number of federally subsidized apartments eligible to be converted to market-rate homes by 2017. It's a big number in terms of the number of families that would get new housing they can afford, but it's a small one in terms of the larger demand. In other words, the proposal, if approved, would probably amount to a wash.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-24/it-s-getting-harder-to-pay-the-rent-in-america

[Zira]

1. It might be a small amout relatively but it's a start and we should be moving that way.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

5. 800 homes a year per state. That will make some kind of a dent.

I'm assuming they'll send more to the poor states and less to the better off states.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

6. Just think what we could provide if we cut the Death and Destruction budget in half.

[Zira]

8. I agree totally.

[closeupready]

2. That tax credit was one of the few brightspots in fighting homelessness in America;

No wonder it was made to stagnate under a Republican administration.

[LisaM]

3. They could start by not evicting people from the affordable units they live in now.

This is happening all over Seattle - and rent control is ILLEGAL in Washington State. Renters have virtually no protection against this. They've knocked down a lot of affordable housing (including my cousin's apartment building) to put in luxury apartments for tech workers. Yesler Terrace, a very successful mixed-income housing project that's decades old, is on the chopping block next. Nothing goes in to replace them - or if they do, it's years down the road. Another example is New Holly, a development in South Seattle that threw people out of their homes, never to follow up with promised replacement housing that is affordable. Meanwhile, the people have nowhere to go, creating a spiraling set of housing problems.

Senator Cantwell needs to look to her own backyard, frankly. I may give a call to her office.

[grasswire]

10. Happening in Portland, too

And people are furious about it. (Except the greedy developers)

[grasswire]

4. Just got news that my rent is going up for the third year in a row.

The property owners are wealthy people. Very wealthy. They just have two small apartments they rent oyt on their estate. It's impossible that raising rent on those two small apartments can make any difference for them, considering their investments and revenue streams. But it sure makes a difference for me.

[Zira]

7. I am sorry to hear that.

And, greed seems to be looked on as a desirable trait by today's wealthy.

[grasswire]

9. and these people are Democrats!

LOL

[StarzGuy]

13. Yeah Man I hear you!

I live in a triplex apartment, one of several others owned by my landlord in addition to owning multiple single family homes that he rents out. He does seem to plead poverty most every time I sit down to pay my rent. Yet, I see he owns a 4 bedroom house with a 3 car garage. I see he also has multiple RV's and brand new 4x4 pickups to haul them around. He and his wife have raised a family and they are out on their own living in paid for homes built by their father. And they also have an armada of RV's. This past week they gathered their RV's together in a caravan like stream of RV's and set out for a weeks vacation at the lake. I locked in my rent on a 26 month lease agreement with a small reduction for signing it now and to prevent any increase until the lease is up.

I have heard nothing about fixing the disability program that is expected to start cutting disability payments by 20% unless congress takes action by the end of this year. If the cuts go into effect I will most likely have to break the lease and try to find a less expensive apartment to rent.

Such a housing proposal is sorely needed where I live. But, alas none is in the near future.

[PasadenaTrudy]

18. Mine goes up every year

About $30.00. It's always been this way.

[Scuba]

11. Not to throw water on what sounds like a noble project, but ...

There's no shortage of homes in the US.

A quick google search suggests there are 14,000,000 vacant home in the US, more than there are homeless families.


Is building 400,000 more homes the right approach? Has anybody studied this proposal?

[LisaM]

14. We're becoming too clustered into urban areas.

And, no one is addressing population control.

[Scuba]

15. Not sure I agree on the former, but the latter is true.

Not sure how either relates to this proposal.

[jwirr]

16. I would be surprised to find out that a lot of those houses

belong to the banks and are not affordable. Most homes would not be affordable for me unless they were HUD.

My children have a garage that I would love to remodel into a tiny house but would need at least $5000 for some of the more expensive items such as plumbing etc. Even that is not affordable to me.

However, this money is not going to make a dent in the problem. But glad she thought about it.

[MisterP]

19. a lot of them are 3K+ McMansions with zero transit--whole developments just waiting for

an economic rebound

[StarzGuy]

12. Housing for the disabled

As one who is disabled the cost of good housing even rentals is getting harder to find. Where I live a good apartment with 2 bedrooms rent from about $1000 to Mucho Bucks. I can't afford such housing. Renting a small home is even more expensive. Housing prices for single family homes are out of sight with starting prices in good areas around $250000. Even if I had excellent credit (which I don't) I would not qualify for a home loan based on my disability payments and a small pension.

So, that leaves me to rent in lower income area of town that isn't the safest place to live. I have already had a trailer hitch stolen from my pickup. Several bikes of my neighbors have been stolen. I live alone and am often in fear of being house invaded although I don't own much for someone to steal. But, with the drug epidemic it wouldn't be a surprise that it happened. Drug addicts will do any kind of crime to get money to fuel their habit.

[YOHABLO]

17. It's so very sad to see so many on the streets these days. It seems to be getting worse.

Can't the so-called 'greatest country' provide a decent roof over people's heads? They could also regulate rent prices. I have had to move several times just because they have raised the rent every time I sign a new lease.

[passiveporcupine]

20. This is the time to look into building soem community housing projects.

A group of affordable town house units, with some available for rent and some to buy...that have a shared park like area with volleyball, with an area for bbq pits and picnic tables, a basketball court, some fruit trees for shared fruit, an above ground pool for the kids in summer. Also a community garden so they can share tools and work together to grow fresh healthy foods. An indoor community rec center for bad weather, and a workout room to help people stay in shape.

And the best part would be a community day care built right in, with a children's play ground and small lending library. They could do daily book readings for the kids too young to read.

A little bagel and coffee koisk would be nice too.

All the jobs (grounds keeper, day care workers, coffee koisk workers, etc. could be rotational volunteer positions, or they could all join together to fund some of the residents with full or part time jobs. It would be great if someone lost their job and could work part or full time at the community while looking for another job.

If they were smart, they'd look for safe areas that have abandoned buildings, office buildings, or warehouses, that could be converted into town homes. They would come with parking lots, and they'd just have to add some car port areas for residents.

The cool part is some units could be rentals, and some purchases, so families just getting started in the housing market can afford to buy and build equity and good credit.

Maybe this would be too complicated for low income housing, but I really like the idea of even low income people having access to the cost sharing aspects of a communal/community housing system, especially if they've never owned their own home before (which can be very expensive to maintain).