State lacks affordable rentals

Arizona’s poorest households face a serious shortage of affordable rental housing, with a study by the Arizona Housing Alliance showing more than 200,000 residents are paying more than 78 percent of their income toward rent.

Housing advocates recommend people pay no more than 30 percent of their income to put a roof over their heads.

During the housing crash, it was a bit easier for the state’s renters to find homes, since nearly 85 percent of all apartments were offering concessions.

The housing alliance recommends in its new 2013 report, “Home Matters,” that the state put more money into

its housing trust fund, set up by the Legislature in 1988 to fund affordable housing mostly through the proceeds from unclaimed property. The report also recommends municipalities and state and local groups do more to create rental homes for low-income families.

The recovery of metro Phoenix’s housing market is making it harder for low-income renters and potential homebuyers. Home prices have risen more than 30 percent in the past year, and rental rates are on the rise as well.

Sheila Harris, founding director of the Arizona Department of Housing, authored the report and discussed it at a daylong conference in Phoenix on May 17. The Arizona Housing Alliance is a statewide coalition with the goal of providing Arizonans quality housing they can afford.

The report recommends that housing be built near public transportation, jobs, schools and shopping centers, because the average Arizona household now spends more than $1,000 a month on transportation.

The group also weighed in on making homeownership accessible by building more affordable houses and providing more counseling and downpayment assistance to lowincome families.

“As mayor of a rapidly growing community, housing is one of the top priorities for my city,” said Avondale Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers in the report. “Families and communities prosper when the hous- ing market is healthy and robust. Cities are competitive when they can offer a wide range of housing products.”

Speakers at the Housing Alliance event included Eugenio Alemán, senior economist at Wells Fargo; Teresa Brice, executive director of LISC Phoenix; Diana “Dede” Yazzie Devine, CEO of Native American Connections; Patricia Garcia Duarte, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix; C.J. Eisenbarth Hager, associate director of Community Development at St. Luke’s Health Initiative; David Brown, executive director of National NeighborWorks Association; and Valerie Iverson, executive director of the Housing Alliance.

The 28-page report, with more detailed recommendations, can be found at www.azhousingalliance.org.