NLIHC 2010 "OUT OF REACH" STUDY DOCUMENTS RENTER HARDSHIP IN FLORIDA

The National Low Income Housing Coalition released its 2010 edition of Out of Reach which calculates the hourly wage necessary to rent a two bedroom apartment at the HUD Fair Market Rent.  In Florida, a family would have to earn $20.29 an hour to affordably rent a two bedroom  apartment.  Not surprisingly, Florida ranks as one of the least affordable states in the country, behind only Hawaii, California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Alaska. 

The report highlights the fact that, while there have been a number of attempts at all levels of government to improve the health of the housing market, low income people and renters in particular continue to struggle to remain in their current homes or find an adequate and affordable place to live. The majority of the initiatives aimed at stabilizing the housing market over the past few years have focused almost exclusively on the needs of homeowners and on encouraging people to buy homes, rather than on providing incentives for people to rent or on making rental units more affordable.  The entire report is available at the National Low Income Housing Coalition website. 

Other research conducted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition comparing the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) to the 2007 ACS shows that the shortage of housing that extremely low income households can afford has increased. For every 100 extremely low income (ELI) renter households, there were just 37 rental units that were both affordable and available to them in 2008. There were 39 such units in 2007.

In 2007 the nation’s housing market was teetering after an unprecedented run up in prices; the broader economy was beginning to stumble. By 2008, the for-sale housing market was in free fall and the economy was heading downward. However, market weaknesses that lead to lower rents and greater affordability were offset by a growing numbers of renter households and falling incomes. Despite the cooling of the housing market in these years, the growth in demand for rentals and a measured decline in rental units affordable to the lowest income households exacerbated, rather than ameliorated, the persistent mismatch that the lowest income families face between their incomes and the costs of the available housing in this country.  The ACS research conducted by the NLIHC is available here.

NEW CBPP REPORT EXAMINES HUD'S TRANSFORMING RENTAL ASSISTANCE (TRA) INITIATIVE

TRA could be the most important new initiative regarding affordable housing in more than a decade. According to CBPP study TRA would help preserve large numbers of public housing units -- by HUD’s estimate as many as 280,000 in the first year, which would be about one-fourth of the public housing stock. The majority of these apartments house elderly people or people with disabilities, while others provide crucial stability for working poor families with children.

TRA would require that public housing remain publicly owned, but would allow housing agencies to convert developments to a new form of long-term rental subsidy that would combine features from two existing programs (project-based Section 8 and the project-based component of the housing voucher program). This would help preserve the units for the long-term in two ways:

- TRA would provide $290 million to boost subsidies for underfunded public housing developments to a level that is adequate to sustain them in good condition.

- The rules governing the new subsidies would allow housing agencies to more easily borrow private funds to perform needed renovations. HUD estimates that TRA would enable agencies to obtain $7.5 billion in private financing.

Many of these units will eventually be lost as affordable housing if resources are not provided to preserve them. And in the current budgetary environment it is unlikely that Congress will prove sufficient funding to address the large backlog of unmet renovation needs in public housing except through an approach that (like TRA) combines modestly higher annual subsidies with greater ability to leverage private funds.

In addition, TRA would help preserve some privately owned subsidized housing, and make other improvements to streamline program administration and give families with housing assistance greater choice about where they live.

Many details of TRA remain to be filled in, and in some cases (such as the specifics of long-term affordability requirements and resident rights) these will have major implications for the initiative’s effectiveness in preserving affordable housing. HUD expects to submit a detailed legislative proposal by the spring of 2010.

The report is available here.

HUD POSTS LOCAL NSP PERFORMANCE REPORTS

NEWS from the National Housing Law Project. "After significant pressure from advocates, HUD has now posted the contact information and quarterly performance reports for all of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grantees. Check it out at here. Among other things, this information will help local advocates identify the communities in which NSP funds are being spent, the number of foreclosed or abandoned properties that have been acquired, and the amount of funds that the jurisdiction has expended so far. Advocates can also see whether and how the jurisdiction is meeting its mandate to use at least 25% of NSP funds to house families at or below 50% of area median income."

NLIHC TELLS CONGRESS OF CONCERNS WITH HUD'S CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS INITIATIVE

National Low Income Housing Coalition President Sheila Crowley testified before the House Financial Services Committee today on the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), which is the Obama Administration’s proposal for the next iteration of the controversial HOPE VI public housing program. As written, CNI is intended to transform neighborhoods with distressed housing, including federal public or assisted housing. However, it would ultimately provide little help to the millions of low and extremely low income people most in need across the country.

CNI is based on the HOPE VI program, which was developed in the early 1990s and of which NLIHC has been critical. While HOPE VI is credited by some with creating “restored” communities, the program came with a very high cost. In many HOPE VI projects, original residents were displaced, and the demolition of units helped to contribute to the shortage of rental homes that the lowest income people could afford.  Read full testimony here

MIAMI BEACH SECURITY GUARDS UNIONIZE

The Miami Herald 3/10/2010

Miami Beach’s security guards have unionized, Service Employees International Union announced Wednesday morning.

Security Alliance, the city’s security contractor, recognized its workers’ union Tuesday night and will bargain for a first-ever union contract, according to an SEIU press release.

Security Alliance employs more than 50 officers in Miami Beach, including the Municipal Building, Lincoln Road and Miami Beach Boardwalk. The officers are asking for higher wages, improved training and healthcare, according to the release.

Security Alliance’s recognition of the union comes as SEIU and security officer Tony Jones have pushed the city to obey its own laws and raise the living wage for the lowest paid workers of the city and its major contractors.

FLORIDA DCA UNABLE TO SPEND ITS $91 MILLION IN NSP FUNDS

Florida Department of Community Affairs has been unable to spend $91 million dollars of its Neighborhood Stabilization Funds targeted for properties and neighborhoods hardest hit by the recession. The Miami Herald reported that the State had spent less than 2% of its funds and could risk forfeiture of the funds if they are not committed by September.