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NEW REPORT SHOWS AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS STILL
"OUT OF REACH" FOR THOUSANDS OF VERMONTERS
State's housing wage rises to $13.78 per hour as rents keep climbing

Thousands of Vermonters are paying large shares of their incomes to keep a roof over their heads, according to a new report released today by the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign.

The report, "Out Of Reach 2003," found nearly half of Vermont renters pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing. Thirty percent is the standard definition of housing affordability.

The report states Vermont's "housing wage" has risen to $13.78 per hour, or $28,662 annually, more than twice the state's minimum wage. The housing wage is the amount of money someone working 40 hours per week must make to afford the rent on a typical 2-bedroom apartment ($717, statewide) and pay no more than 30 percent of her/his income for rent and utilities.

"Every Vermonter ought to be able to find a safe, decent, affordable place to live," said Erhard Mahnke, of the Affordable Housing Coalition. "But Vermont's housing situation continues to grow worse. People's incomes are not keeping up with soaring housing costs, and this problem is hitting low- and moderate-income Vermonters the hardest."

Mahnke pointed out that, earlier this year, another report stated that more than two-thirds of the jobs in Vermont paid less than the state's housing wage.

Among the report's other findings:

• In Burlington, the housing wage is even higher than the rest of the state — $16.35 per hour.
• Vermont's housing wage has increased 16 percent since 2000, more than twice the increase in the Consumer Price Index.
• A worker making the minimum wage ($6.25/hour in Vermont), can only afford to pay $325 a month for rent and utilities, less than half the cost of the typical 2-bedroom apartment. 20,000 Vermonters earn the minimum wage.
• Vermonters living on disability income can afford no more than $181 for rent.

"Clearly, we have a long way to go to solve our housing problems," said John Hall, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs. "We need to produce more housing, particularly affordable housing, and we need to create more good-paying jobs in Vermont. When the housing market is as tight as it is right now, that's going to push up prices.”

Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director of Vermont Housing Finance Agency, agreed, adding there are numerous obstacles to housing development.

"Any housing development requires lots of resources from lots of partners," Carpenter said. "It takes a lot of work to put together a development deal. But even with a good project, you still have to contend with local zoning that sometimes discourages housing development and opposition from the neighbors. All these hurdles add to development costs. It's tough."

Vermont's business community is also feeling the impact of the housing shortage, said Reggie Cooper, President of Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe.

"We have employees who've worked for us for 10 years and have driven an hour one way to work, because they can't afford to live where they work," Cooper said. "That's hard on them and their families, and it's hard on us when they have trouble getting to work. I know lots of other business owners who say they're having trouble hiring and keeping workers because of the high costs of housing."

"Out Of Reach, 2003" was produced by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based housing advocacy organization, www.nlihc.org.

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Contact: info@housingawareness.org