Quarter of county residents burdened by housing costs

OLYMPIA - About 25 percent of households in Grant County are paying more than they can reasonably afford to for housing expenses, according to recent data from the state Affordable Housing Advisory Board.

More than 7,500 of the county's 30,067 households are considered "cost-burdened," meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Housing is only considered affordable if a household pays 30 percent or less of their income for all housing costs.

Grant County is one of 13 counties in the state that has between 25-36 percent of their households considered cost-burdened. Only two counties, Lincoln and Garfield, have 25 percent or less of their households considered cost-burdened, according to the 2015 Washington State Housing Needs Assessment report.

The report is the first comprehensive, statewide look at housing needs in more than a decade, according to a Department of Commerce news release. Data from the report will help the state, cities and counties as well as private and nonprofit groups make effective policy and funding decisions to meet the state's affordable housing needs.

"We always knew that each community has a different set of housing challenges," said Faith Li Pettis, AHAB chair. "Now we've quantified those housing needs county-by-county, region-by-region, so solutions can be more targeted and tailored to community needs."

The study does not make specific recommendations, but provides a solid footing for making current and future policy decisions, read the news release.

According to the data, about half of the cost-burdened households in Grant County are renters; the other half are homeowners. And 40 percent of those households (about 3,041) are actually considered severely cost burdened, meaning more than 50 percent of their income goes to housing costs.

In addition, most of the cost-burdened households make less than 80 percent of the county's median family income of $52,100. Households that make less than 80 percent of the median family income are considered low-income households.

Statewide, 36 percent or about 936,200 households are considered cost burdened. And more than 390,000 households (15 percent) pay more than 50 percent of their income for housing costs, classifying them as severely cost-burdened, according to the report.

To afford fair market rent for a three-bedroom home (about $815) in Grant County, a four-person household must make $32,600 or 62 percent of the county's median family income. A one-person household must make $18,640 or 51 percent of the median family income to afford a one-bedroom unit at the fair market price of $466, according to the data.

Also in the report was information on the current affordable housing gap in counties throughout the state. In Grant County, there are only about 26 units of affordable housing per 100 households earning 30 percent or less of the median family income. This means that 74 of those households are cost-burdened and paying more for housing than they can afford.

In addition, there are about 46 affordable units per 100 households earning 50 percent or below the median family income.

In 2019, it is projected that the affordable housing gap will shrink to 24 units per 100 households earning 30 percent or less of the median family income and increase to 50 units per 100 households earning 50 percent or below of the median family income.

Statewide, there are 28 units per 100 households in the first earning bracket and 51 per 100 in the second. Those numbers are expected to be 29 per 100 households earning 30 percent or less than the median family income and 57 per 100 households earning 50 percent or below the median income in 2019.

"If the current status quo in Washington remains unchanged, it will take at least 30 years for the gap in affordable and available housing to close," read the report.

The entire housing needs assessment study can be found at www.commerce.wa.gov/housingneeds.