Housing consumes a vast share of the employee income compared to 20 years ago explains Maxwell Drever. The increasing strict state and local regulations and the declining supply of housing units are responsible for this. More so, eligible households are not even receiving Federal Housing grants, which leave them in a mess. Hence, they cannot cover transportation, healthcare, food, and other essential costs.
Housing affordability has thereby emerged as a significant issue drawing substantial attention. If you look at recent reports, you will see how drastically the problem has enveloped every section of society. To address the issue, every individual must come forward and delve deep into the cause of housing costs and housing shortage.
Explore the issue?
Housing affordability gets measured in terms of the income spent on a mortgage payment and monthly rent. Along with this, there are other points to explore.
• Based on the housing department’s definition, any individual spending more than 30% of income on housing rent is considered cost-burdened.
• Households spending more than 50% of their income on paying rent are considered severely burdened.
These households who devote a vast share of their income to paying housing rent do not have enough aid to cover their cost of healthcare, food, and transportation. At the same time, any family or individual with a low income may counter challenges. Yet, Maxwell Drever reveals, relative to affordability and local housing prices, it implies that the issue has grabbed various households.
Why is affordable housing not only a problem for the workforce population?
If you look at the western world, you will see that there are two separate classes of society- the owners of the means of production and the workers of the means of production. As already mentioned, the workforce population is the service provider to society. They work in different capacities like doctors, teachers, firefighters, nurses, etc. These individuals have fixed wages and cannot afford to live in luxurious apartments.
On the other hand, you have the owners of the means of production who have vast resources. However, even this section is not devoid of the challenge of the short supply of workforce housing. The workforce population stays away from the city centers and has to endure long commute times to reach their job location. Hence, the employers do not get a smooth flow of labor in the industrial hub. Thus, it is clear that the affordable workforce housing shortage is a problem in every section of society.
Don’t you think a remedy to an issue is the responsibility of local governments?
Yes, the federal government must come forward and decide how to overcome this issue. Land use is an area of concern.
- Countless local and state regulations need reassessment to see how the zoning laws can help support the easy supply of housing units.
- The mounting housing cost and restrictions on apartment development need to be relax.
- Along with this, Maxwell Drever reflects that real estate owners and investors must get support from the government through financing.
Smooth communication between state and non-governmental organizations needs to be regulated. When all will work together, things will get back to normal.