Richmond to build more affordable housing as costs rise
Maggie Walker Community Land Trust portion of Highland Grove neighborhood under construction on Aug. 25. Photo by Molly Manning.
Richmond to build more affordable housing as costs rise
Yenni Jimenez Acosta, Contributing Writer
Richmond is working to build more affordable housing in response to high eviction rates and housing demand as Richmonders and students grapple with rising costs.
The city announced that $7 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is going towards eight housing projects — when completed, these projects would add a total of 580 affordable living spaces to Richmond, according to a press release
Richmond has the highest eviction filing rate nationally, and Virginia has the highest filing counts, according to Eviction Lab. The city’s housing market is rated 13th out of 158 cities in housing development, while Virginia ranks 19th in the United States, according to Construction Coverage.
Richmond’s share of houses with cost-burdens — when more than 30% of one’s paycheck is going to paying rent or housing costs in general, is 52%, and the proportion of Richmonders with severe cost-burdens is 29.5%, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Census Bureau.
The median cost of rent in the city is $1,300 a month, while the median household income sits at $45,700 annually.
A YouGov survey found that 73% of Virginians believe the state lacks affordable homes, according to a press release. State lawmakers have worked to remedy the lack of affordable housing by introducing legislation that would limit how landowners raise their prices on older homes.
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority receives federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The RRHA program assists over 17,000 families with affordable housing, according to the RRHA website.
“We manage 3,246 units of public housing across six family communities and six senior communities. We also provide housing subsidies for roughly 5,000 individuals who use Housing Choice Vouchers to rent homes in the private market,” RRHA spokesperson Angela Fountain said. “In addition, there are approximately 10,000 people on our waiting list who are seeking affordable housing through RRHA programs.”
Fourth-year kinetic imaging student Savannah Figueroa struggled to find affordable housing close to campus, especially with included utilities and in a safe area.
“Most off-campus housing around VCU has skyrocketed to roughly $900 per person in a 4-person apartment — and it’s not even top-quality housing, so the pricing isn’t really justified,” Figueroa said. “I struggled for a while to find something partially affordable considering I barely have time to work a part-time job.”
Fourth-year international business student Nelie Ceron-Cruz said she thinks VCU is pushing housing prices up around campus as well.
“If everything has VCU’s name on it, sooner or later we’re going to have to end up moving farther away from campus. Not everyone can afford these insane prices,” Ceron-Cruz said.
