- Minnesota rental affordability worst in Midwest, May 3, 2011, Alexandria Echo Press: “According to a national report released Monday, a Minnesota family must have 2.2 minimum wage earners working full-time – or one person working 87 hours per week at minimum wage- to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota. Of the 12 states in the Midwest, Minnesota ranks the worst for rental affordability among low-wage workers. The report, Out of Reach 2011, was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, D.C.-based housing policy organization, and for Minnesota, the Minnesota Housing Partnership. The report provides housing affordability data for every state, metro area, and county in the country…”
- N.J. rental costs among highest in the nation, By Sarah Portlock, May 3, 2011, Star-Ledger: “A household in New Jersey must earn at least $51,044 annually – the fifth-highest amount in the nation – to be able to afford rent and utilities for a ‘safe and modest’ two-bedroom rental property, according to a study released yesterday. Statewide, a typical renter earns about $32,905, according to the report, which was released by two housing advocacy groups. The fair market rent for a two bedroom-apartment in New Jersey is $1,276, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the report found New Jersey families are paying much more than the recommended 30 percent of income on housing and utilities…”
- Harvard report finds housing ‘affordability crisis’, By Megan Woolhouse, May 3, 2011, Boston Globe: “Philip Frabetti wants to move his wife and two children out of their cramped apartment in the North End, but finding a bigger place that’s affordable has been difficult. Frabetti, a project manager at Fidelity Investments, said the asking rents of $2,500 or more a month in Newton, Arlington, and Belmont would eat up at least half of his monthly income…”
- Typical renter can’t afford one-bedroom apartment in Seattle, By Aubrey Cohen, May 2, 2011, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “The typical renter in the Seattle-Bellevue area could afford a one-bedroom apartment a year ago but just a studio now, according to a new report. That’s because that renter is earning 5.1 percent less, while fair market rents compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have risen 11.3 percent, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual ‘Out of Reach’ report. This means the typical renter would have to work 44 hours a week, with no vacation or sick days, to pay for a one-bedroom apartment (up from 37 hours a week in 2010)…”
Tag: Utilities
Increased Need for Assistance – Virginia
In southwest Va., as more need help, aid organization has less to give, By Eli Saslow, April 16, 2011, Washington Post: “The destitute people who line up outside her office are asking for more help than ever. The organization where she works has less than ever to give. It falls on Denise Hancock to navigate the chasm in between, so she rubs her forehead, opens her office door and calls out into the waiting room. ‘Come on in,’ she says. The first client this morning at the Pulaski Community Action office is a young woman with tangled hair and smudged eyeliner, a single mother of two who lost her job at Shoney’s restaurant. ‘You’re my last resort,’ she says, handing over a piece of paper stamped, ‘Urgent: Termination Notice.’ It is an electric bill for $510.15 with full payment due immediately. ‘Can you help me?’ she asks. Hancock purses her lips, already knowing what will come next. She punches numbers into a calculator and then begins the same conversation she will have 14 more times on this day alone. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she says. ‘All we can afford to give right now is $35…'”
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Home heating assistance seen at record high, By Jonathan Fahey (AP), San Jose Mercury News: “High energy prices, high unemployment and a cold winter are prompting a record number of households to seek home heating assistance. The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association will announce Wednesday that 8.9 million households are expected to qualify for financial help this winter, up from 8.3 million last winter. It’s the third year in a row the number of households needing assistance has set a new high. The chief reason is the economy, according to Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of NEADA. ‘We have this group who weren’t poor before the recession, who are poor now and scrambling for whatever they can get,’ Wolfe says. ‘It’s a tough situation.’ Congress doubled funding for the program, called Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, to $5.1 billion two years ago and matched that level last year. Congressional Republicans are expected to try to pare that back during budget negotiations next week…”