Rental Housing "Out of Reach" for More Washingtonians
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December 26, 2006
Olympia, WA - A Washington family has to earn almost $15 an hour, working year-round, to be able to afford a basic 2-bedroom apartment. However, 46 percent of Washington families who rent don't make that much. That's the finding of a new national study, "Out of Reach 2006," released here by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. The study also estimates 250,000 families are just a couple of paychecks away from homelessness.
Corine Knudsen of the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless says the figures are not much different than last year, but they're just as hard to accept.
"I think it's always kind of shocking when renters need at least two incomes and people have to work way more hours than an average wage-earner in order to afford housing."
When low-income housing advocates ask for more funding from the legislature in January, Knudsen feels they'll have public sentiment on their side.
"Even people that are making a moderate income have faced this rising housing cost for the last few years, so they can understand what might be happening to somebody who is making a lot less money."
In January, low-income housing advocates will ask the state for more money for rent subsidies, and to triple the Housing Trust Fund, which is money that developers can apply for to build affordable housing.
The Out of Reach 2006 study is available at www.nlihc.org.