in curind ajkie inchiriaza cocinile re: Housing Costs Lifting Rentals Out of Reach
- From: "dijma" <dijma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 13 Dec 2005 14:39:37 -0800
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_bi_ge/housing_costs
Housing Costs Lifting Rentals Out of Reach By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER,
Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 19 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The cost of rental housing has increased faster than
wages, making it increasingly difficult for low-income families to
afford even modest apartments, an advocacy group said Tuesday.
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"The picture is similar to past years, but it's getting worse," said
Danilo Pelletiere, research director of the National Low Income Housing
Coalition.
The coalition, which advocates for more affordable housing, issues a
report each year tracking rental costs in every state, county and
metropolitan area in the country.
It says families should spend no more than 30 percent of their incomes
on housing and utilities, a standard recognized by many housing
experts. Under that standard, the coalition said it could not find a
single county in the United States where a full-time worker making
minimum wage could afford a one-bedroom apartment.
In reality, the report found, many low-income families spend a far
larger share of their incomes on housing.
Hawaii is the state with the most expensive rental costs, followed by
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. California also had
eight of the 10 most expensive counties for rental housing, led by
Marin County, near San Francisco.
West Virginia had the most affordable rents, followed by Arkansas,
North Dakota, Alabama and Mississippi.
Nationally, families have to make an average of $15.78 an hour to
afford a two-bedroom apartment, while spending no more than 30 percent
of their earnings on housing costs. That is up from $15.37 a year ago.
The federal minimum wage, at $5.15 an hour, was last increased in 1997.
Fifteen states have minimum wages higher than the federal level.
Sheila Crowley, president of the housing coalition, said rising housing
costs have forced many families to "double up," moving multiple
families into apartments designed for only one.
"You've got a family living in the garage and another living in the
basement, that kind of thing," Crowley said.
She said the low-income housing market will be grim for many victims of
Hurricane Katrina. A federal judge ruled Monday that a federal program
that is putting up tens of thousands of Katrina victims in hotels must
be extended by a month, to Feb. 7.
The coalition analyzed data from the Census Bureau and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to track wages and rents.
The report found that the costs of heating fuel and utilities increased
by 13 percent in the past year, contributing to much of the increase in
renter costs.
"There are a high percentage of people that don't get by," said Chris
Bender of Housing California, which advocates for more low-income
housing.
Many low-income people are forced to choose between paying rent, buying
medicine, or providing books for their children, Bender said.
"How do people like that have holidays?" Bender asked. "They probably
don't."
.
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