Housing is an essential human need. But affordable workforce housing is becoming challenging for Americans says Maxwell Drever. Also, housing falls under the “affordable” bracket if it occupies less than 30% of a family’s income. Close to 43 million of the U.S renter households are cost-burdened. It means that they spend over 30% of their income on their housing. And the heavily cost-burdened renters end up spending most of their income on housing.
The absence of enough affordable housing brings a huge amount of impact on people. The families who have an issue of affordable housing undergo the stress of health care, food security, transportation, retirement and complete social stability. It also results in many environmental impacts and increased traffic. And amidst other things, it usually worsens sprawl and also develops a lack of diversity in the communities.
The challenges in supply
Maxwell Drever says that the problem of affordable housing shortage usually points to the supply factor. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the deficit of the affordable rental units for families with low income is 6.8 million units. And at the recent production pace, it’s challenging for the supply to cater to the demand.
The rules for land use reduced earning, and the “not in my backyard” approach
It’s necessary to know what results in a lack of affordable housing. The cost and the regulations for land use are some of the important factors. In several communities, the related laws and the local zoning make it challenging and impossible to move through the local landscape and provide the density required so that an affordable housing project can work.
What generates the demand for affordable workforce housing?
Other than concentrating on the supply issue, the affordable workforce housing crisis can’t get resolved until one concentrates on the demand. It is essential to know and learn why several households are not in a position to attain affordable housing. Also, A few reasons include the income and wealth redistribution for over four decades and the reduction of the middle class. And today, a huge chunk of the nation’s aggregate income is opting in for upper-income families, and the share for the lower- and middle-income households is simply failing.
Maxwell Drever says that this shift of the associated wealth and income has effectively brought down the percentage of the families that could have opted in for the market-rate tents. As a result, it is leading to the crisis of affordable workforce housing.
It is a known fact that affordable workforce housing is a crisis for everyone. According to the latest estimates, there is a reduction of 7 million rental units. That are made available for families with low income. Also, the shortage of single-family homes is about 3.8 million units. One can’t say for certain whether the production pace will cater to the demand for affordable workforce housing. It is also necessary to address the issue of resistance to affordable housing development at a local level. And here, it is essential to get the business leaders to involve.