Housing Shortages

Housing Shortages

AIA New York Conference to Tackle New York City’s Housing Crisis

Housing shortage has become a problem in New York City over the past couple of decades. Every borough has been affected by this problem. This has occurred because the population of New York City is increasing every single year. The population has exceeded the expectations of the past. Housing shortage has affected many people because the rent is going up and low-income families can’t afford those rental households.

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There are many statistics that convey how horrible the housing shortage is for low income families. Statistics from National Low Income Housing Coalition(NLIHC) show that only 28% of rental households are extremely low-income. That goes to show that low income families are struggling to survive because the supply is lower than the demand. In addition, 73% of extremely low income renters are struggling because of the severe cost burden. This goes to show that most of low income families can’t really live because they are living paycheck to paycheck. With the population growing at a fast rate it will only be harder for those families.

More than 500,000 apartments are needed to accommodate the population growth by 2030. Spectrum News suggests that the average rent in Manhattan since August 2022 is $5,246. These details show that the population is growing rapidly and the price of rental apartments are increasing. Also, the vacancy rate for low-income apartments are 0.9%. That means that many low-income rental apartments are pretty much filled. These details show that housing shortages are an increasing problem.

According to Multifamily Loans, New York is the number one metro area with the most housing shortages. It is stated that three quarters of New York’s apartments are more than four decades old. That’s around 1.7 million old units. This implies that renovations are also apart of the problem. Also the housing would have maintenance for multiple years so the cost only piling up even more. Unless people are moved out, that will probably leave people homeless and the rent will probably go up because of the renovation/rebuild.

The housing shortages also tie in with homelessness because people are getting evicted, therefore leaving them homeless. More than 70,000 people are sleeping in shelters and that number is going to add up with the housing shortage. Eviction court filings doubled since 2021. This conveys that the housing shortages are leaving people in shelters or on the street. The rent is increasing and people don’t have the money to keep up with it.

New York has the lowest homeownership rate out of the all country in 2021. New York is at the bottom with 55.4% of homeownership. Also in New York the city has the lowest precent of homeownership compared to the rest of the state. Each borough have under 45% of homeownership while the rest of the state have 54% or up. This shows that many people in the city of New York don’t own much property.

All in all, the housing shortages are a problem that need to be dealt with. There are a couple of ways that this problem can be improved. One way is to increase the housing units made for low-income families. Most of New York are low-income, and not tending to their needs show the lack of care from the state. Another solution is to create programs that help the unfortunate into housing. Also housing should be made on vacant properties or underused public spaces or private spaces.

Sources

National Low Income Housing Coalition. “New York.” Accessed March 27, 2023.https://nlihc.org/housing-needs-by-state/new-york.

Multifamily Loans. “Top 10 Metros With the Largest Housing Shortages.” Accessed March 26, 2023.https://www.multifamily.loans/apartment-finance-blog/top-10-metros-with-the-largest-housing-shortages/.

“In New York City, Housing Supply Continues to Fail to Meet Demand.” Accessed March 26, 2023.https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/housing/2022/10/07/new-york-city-housing-supply-demand.

Office of the New York State Comptroller. “Homeownership Rates in New York.” Accessed March 26, 2023.https://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/homeownership-rates-new-york.

ABC7 New York. “Eviction ‘floodgate’ Has Opened in NYC Due to Rising Rents, End of Pandemic Era Rental Aid,” February 15, 2023.https://abc7ny.com/housing-crisis-evictions-affordable-rent/12820437/.