The Status of Affordable Housing in Elizabethton

Housing is something everyone needs. Rich or poor, employed or unemployed, single or married, we all need some type of housing. In Elizabethton, housing takes two main forms – apartments and detached single-family homes. One is renter-occupied and the other is commonly owner-occupied. Either of these types can be analyzed to determine if they are affordable for the people who live in Elizabethton or not.

To determine whether the housing is affordable or not, we use the 30 percent rule. This rule states that no more than 30 percent of your income should be dedicated towards your housing expenses. This rule is typically used in personal finance budgeting. It is also defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because the U.S. Census Bureau tracks aggregated household income as well as housing expenses (mortgage and rents), planners can use this data to determine the approximate affordability of housing in a community.

Let’s start by looking at owner-occupied units in Elizabethton. Approximately 53 percent of all of the people who own their home have a mortgage while 47 percent own their home without a mortgage. Because a mortgage can have such a large impact on a family budget I want to look at these groups separately. When it comes to affordability of homes without a mortgage, we are doing pretty good. Just over 91 percent of these households can easily afford their own home. This story changes, however, when we look at those with mortgages. Just over 1/3rd or 33 percent of the households do not live in a home where their home expenses are less than 30 percent of their household income.

Looking at renter-occupied units this number gets a little worse. 43 percent (almost half) of all renter-occupied units, including apartments, condos, and single-family homes, pay more than 30 percent of their household income in rental expenditures. This is quite alarming! This data then begs the question, what do we do about it or, maybe, should we do anything about it?

Elizabethton, in the history of the city Planning Department, has never had any types of regulations on providing housing for a specific type of family or income level. The free-market has been allowed to work in Elizabethton – if there was demand, the apartments or housing subdivisions were built. So when almost half of the renters in the city and over 1/3rd of the homeowners with a mortgage live in housing that is not affordable, is it time for the city to step in? Some cities have done this and require certain numbers of affordable units in each development. Others have not and claim they will never interfere with the local housing market. What do you think? Which side of the table should Elizabethton land on this topic? Let’s talk about it!