I rent my house. In fact, I plan to be a renter for the next several years. As a young professional, I think my participation in the rental market is fairly common. Buying a house is daunting, especially when you don’t know where you want to live or whether you can afford a down payment. I had figured that most people who were like me and renting, were able to do so in a way that was safe financially. However, I was shocked to discover how wrong I was.
This fall, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report which stated that slightly over half of the people who rent, 51.6% to be exact, spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. This trend hurts the lowest income renters the hardest.
At the same time, the amount of people renting has continued to grow. Across the United States, now 34.1% of families rent the houses, apartments, or mobile homes they live. Our housing market is feeling some strain. Tension continues to build as more and more consumers look for rental properties, and our unemployment rates continue to be high. It’s no wonder why so many people can’t find affordable housing.
So, what’s the solution? The National Low Income Housing Coalition suggests that one avenue to address this problem is to properly fund the National Housing Trust Fund. If Congress put forth $1.065 billion to fund the program (which they established in 2008), more people would have access to housing vouchers, communities would have more money to build housing, and more housing could be rehabilitated. This is one simple way we could move affordable housing forward in our country and help working families, or young people starting out, get back on their feet.
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