The affordable housing crisis

A fundamental building block of our communities, affordable housing is uniquely positioned as a connecting platform that links with other key sectors such as transportation, energy, work-force development and education to produce sustainable and equitable communities.

Building and maintaining quality affordable rental housing is never easy. It typically requires multiple subsidies from public or philanthropic sources and a sponsor (whether a for-profit developer or a nonprofit like PRI) that is committed to this line of business for the long term.

But in the last several years, a “perfect storm” of events has conspired to further weaken affordable rental housing in the region:

● Atlanta has an abundance of older apartment properties, which require more operating and maintenance dollars;

● Atlanta has a large (and, unfortunately, growing) low-income population — upward of 30 percent of all households in the metro area — that need quality rental housing;

● Expenses, particularly the high water and sewer rates in the city, have been rising;

● Rent levels, particularly in class B and C type apartments, have declined in the current depressed market, reducing cash flow for apartment owners; and

● Reinvestment capital, or deep pockets to adequately maintain properties until the economy recovers, has been in short supply, particularly for sponsors like PRI.

Contrary to popular perceptions, the demand for affordable rental housing is primarily from working people who pay for this housing out of their own wallets — frontline workers we all see and interact with every day in restaurants, hotels, airports and hospitals. None can afford much rent.

The math is simple: An individual earning $10 an hour and working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, earns $20,000 (a more common circumstance than many of us would like to believe). If that individual wants to keep their housing expense to not more than 30 percent of total income (the nationally accepted threshold), that translates into a $500 per month rent payment. The supply of quality rental housing at that level is obviously limited.

The construction of new affordable housing has come light years in recent times. Witness the properties that the Atlanta Housing Authority has developed in partnership with private developers. Or PRI’s most recent developments such as Adamsville Green in southwest Atlanta. This housing is sustainable, built of quality materials and functions as a valuable community asset.

But the vast majority of affordable housing stock is much older and currently locked into a downward spiral. Preservation should be a top housing priority. It is far less expensive to preserve existing housing; it is inherently a green practice to rehabilitate existing structures rather than to build new; and preservation arrests the reduction of an already inadequate inventory.

Ultimately, our ability to preserve and maintain a decent affordable rental housing stock will determine how well we serve all segments of the region’s population.

Ray Christman is executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition. Bruce Gunter is president of Progressive Redevelopment Inc.