Housing advocates fear rent hikes
Fed changes could hit local tenants hard, agency representatives say
The proposed “Making Affordable Housing Work Act of 2018” could increase rents for tenants in federally subsidized housing, and local affordable housing representatives hope the change does not come to pass.
The proposal, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was introduced in April but so far has not been brought to Congress for consideration. If it’s enacted, tenants who get federal housing assistance would see their rents increase from 30 percent of their income to 35 percent. It also would triple fixed minimum monthly rents in public housing developments and for recipients of Section 8 vouchers from $50 per month to $150. The proposal also could give public housing authorities the right to impose work requirements on certain tenants.
Kevin O’Connor, chief executive officer of Kingston-based affordable housing agency RUPCO, is among those hoping the proposal doesn’t come to pass. He said a single per-
son earning 30 percent of the area median income, or $16,550, would see their rent increase from $416 per month to $485. A senior or disabled person living on the average Social Security disability income of $1,197 per month would see their rent increase by $35 per month, which takes away money that could be used for medication, O’Connor said.
He said a single mother with two children who earns 50 percent of the area median income would see her rent payment go from $890 a month to $1,040, equivalent to a car payment or a week’s worth of food for her children.
“The proposed changes in the Marking Affordable Housing Work Act completely miss the mark and, if passed, would only serve to exacerbate the burdens and struggles of America’s most vulnerable households, including seniors, the disabled and working poor,” O’Connor said. “Given the recent tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy — on top of the already regressive tax breaks provided to high-income homeowners for mortgage interest, points and real estate taxes — the question becomes why supports for the bottom end of the income spectrum are being targeted.”
Catherine Maloney, executive director of the Kingston Housing Authority, said the act, if approved, would harm tenants of her agency.
“As some of the most vulnerable population in the city, they would experience a significant impact to their financial insecurity,” Maloney said. “Couple that with the fact unemployment has been trending down for the past six years, making it more difficult for folks to find work, it would be difficult for tenants to pay their rent and put food on their table, creating an increased burden on local social services agencies.”
O’Connor said his agency urges “consideration for programs that lift all boats by creating affordable housing, producing jobs and provid[ing] affordable, quality education, health care and access to healthy food.”
U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said he could never support the proposal. In a prepared statement, he said the proposal from HUD Secretary Ben Carson is “just one more shameless attack from this administration on the working folks who struggle to make ends meet. His plan would throw thousands of lower-income Americans out on the streets for no good reason.”
U.S. Rep. Jon Faso, RKinderhook, said he was committed to ensuring access to housing.
“It has been a commitment of mine to ensure that those who need access to housing can secure a safe and affordable place to live,” Faso said in a prepared statement.
Faso said he recently led efforts to increase funding for a HUD program that partners with community organizations to carry out development and affordable housing activities. Faso also worked, he said, with local stakeholders to push HUD to fix unlivable and dangerous conditions at properties run the city of Hudson Housing Authority.