Small Town News

Affordable rental units hard to find in Sussex

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It's getting harder and harder for state and county residents to find affordable rental housing, and more than half of those in the hunt don't make enough to afford even a two-bedroom apartment.

Delaware's housing wage - the hourly income a family needs to afford rent and utilities - has increased 46 percent over the past

decade, said Gina Miserendino of the Delaware Housing Coalition.

In a report issued earlier in May, the rate was placed at $18.74 as the hourly wage a family must earn to afford a two-bedroom rental unit. Delaware has the 16th most expensive state housing wage in the nation, according to "Out of Reach 2011," published by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based housing advocacy group.

While the Sussex County housing wage of $14.42 per hour is considerably lower than the state average, a wide gap between the highest and lowest-paid workers exists. Workers in the county's leading job categories - retail and leisure and hospitality - average just $10 per hour. Workers in nonfood manufacturing average $26.40 an hour, and workers in education and healthcare average about $21 per hour.

The average annual wage in Sussex County is $33, 300 a year, which is just about what is needed to afford a modest rental unit and pay the utilities with very little disposable income left.

"It's discouraging that many of the current jobs available and ones being created in the future do not come close to the $14.42 per hour - and that's working full time 52 weeks a year without a break," she said.

Most Sussex County workers are employed in the wholesale and retail trades, and the leisure and hospitality fields, which are also the lowest-paying jobs in the county, said Ed Simon of the Delaware Economic Development Office as he presented during the 2010 Sussex County Today and Tomorrow Conference. The more than 12, 000 workers in the wholesale and retail trades earn an average of $26, 000 per

year while the 10, 000 workers in the leisure and hospitality fields make an average of $16, 000 a year. Both are far below the an nual average wage needed to afford rental housing.

Miserendino said the rates are based on a family spending no more than 30 percent of its income on housing.

According to the Delaware Housing Coalition, on a statewide level, working at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, families must have 2.6 wage earners working full time or one wage earner working more than 100 hours per week

An estimated 54 percent of renters, or 46, 500, do not earn enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, which averages $974 per month with many rentals in the Cape Region exceeding $1, 100. Nearly 30 percent of Delaware residents are renters.

Miserendino said people who are struggling to find affordable rental units choose a variety of paths to place a roof over their heads. Some double up with others to share the rent; some live with other family members, and others end up in cheaper, substandard rentals.

"In many cases they end up in overcrowded conditions, and that puts a lot of stress on families," Miserendino said.

Families, especially single-parent families, are under stress with many adults working two

jobs. Miserendino said many of the available jobs are shift and seasonal jobs, and people are forced to work away from their hometown. "Some people are one flat tire away from losing their job," she said.

Lack of affordable rental units

Adding to the problem is the lack of affordable housing in Sussex County in the private and public sectors. Miserendino said nearly every assisted housing community in the state has a waiting list.

Even before the 2008 housing crash, there was a lack of affordable housing, Miserendino said. "With the economic downturn, even more pressure is placed on affordable housing," she said.

People facing foreclosures who are middle-class families are finding out how hard it is to find

rental housing, Miserendino

said. "The pressure on rentals is climbing up the economic ladder, and many in the middle class are beginning to understand what a lot of their neighbors have been going through for a long time," she said.

Very few new apartment complexes have been built in Sussex County over the past few years. Miserendino said a stigma of sorts has been placed on multi-family housing. "Renters are not second-class citizens," she said.

Ironically, Delaware is among the top states in the nation for home ownership. "There has

been such a push to get everyone into a home, and now we need to rebalance the equation. People need different living situations throughout their lives," she said.

"I get calls all the time from older people looking for affordable senior housing and they tell me about up to two-year waiting lists. Some tell me they are not sure they have two years," she said.

The fastest-growing age group in the county is those aged 55 and up; experts estimate an additional 90, 000 seniors will live in the county by 2025, with most of those over the age of 65.

Good options are out there

According to Miserendino, there are still some good options available to provide affordable housing. Sussex County has a moderately priced rental housing program in place that has

been stalled by the economic downturn. A federal program under the National Housing Trust Fund is set to pour $3 million into Delaware for construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental properties.

Sussex County has its own active rehabilitation program in place. Programs such as Diamond State Land Trust provide affordable housing on inexpensive leased land that lowers housing costs.





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