Demand for Affordable Housing Assistance Far Exceeds Supply
Across Washington the need for affordable housing has increased year after year. We see this growing crisis at every one of our Housing Authorities. Each year AWHA collects data on the size of the Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher waitlists from across the State.
Only 26% of Washington families in need of Public Housing are served. Public Housing is owned and operated by Housing Authorities in Washington. It is a key component to fighting the statewide housing crisis, but is sadly underfunded.
As a result, families wait on average 3.5 years to be accepted into Public Housing.
As a result, families wait on average 3.5 years to be accepted into Public Housing.
A lack of housing resources means many Washington Housing Authorities hold lotteries for their Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs.
During the last lottery cycle 82,261 Washington families applied for a chance at a voucher. Housing Authorities were only able to accept half of these families onto their waitlists, leaving many others to look elsewhere for housing.
Even with a voucher, families on the list wait on average 2.8 years to be receive a Voucher.
During the last lottery cycle 82,261 Washington families applied for a chance at a voucher. Housing Authorities were only able to accept half of these families onto their waitlists, leaving many others to look elsewhere for housing.
Even with a voucher, families on the list wait on average 2.8 years to be receive a Voucher.
Rents are increasing.
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The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes
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Since 2014 rent in Washington has gone up 42%, in the same time wages went up only 23%. This is not sustainable. Washington's minimum wage is $11.50 an hour, but to afford a 2-Bedroom apartment in Washington an individual needs to make $26.87 an hour, or work 93 hours per week at a minimum wage job.
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The National Low Income Housing Coalition's 2019 The Gap report, declared that "no state has an adequate supply of rental housing affordable and available for extremely low-income households." Washington state's gap was among the most severe with only 29 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income households.
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Homelessness Among School Children Continues to Rise
The number of homeless children in Washington has increased by over 24% since 2013. Prolonged homelessness creates an unstable environment for a child to grow up in, greatly impacting their health, education, safety, and future.
Society as a whole suffers too, in part because we must devote extras resources to these children, but more importantly because we may lose the great humans each of these kids has the potential to become. |
Learn More
The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance leads many statewide advocacy efforts to support affordable housing and poverty reduction.
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Each year Washington counts the number of homeless individuals across the state. In 2018, 22,304 were counted in one night, the fifth highest (total people experiencing homelessness) and the sixth highest (rate of homelessness per 10,000 people) of any state in the nation.
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The Washington Department of Commerce's Needs Assessments details affordable housing for every county and metropolitan area in Washington.
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