PROVIDENCE -- The shortage of affordable housing in Rhode Island will
worsen in the next few years if the state sticks to current housing
goals, according to a study released today.
This year, the General Assembly required each community to develop plans
ensuring that 10 percent of all housing be affordable to low and
moderate wage earners.
The state is now about 8,700 units shy of the goal, said a study
commissioned by the nonprofit Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corp.
By 2010, the report's authors said, at least 18,000 more affordable
homes and apartments will be needed.
"Rhode Island is in a severe crisis ... (and) we should expect it to
worsen considerably," said Eric Hangen, president of I-squared Community
Development Consulting Inc., which produced the report.
Hangen said 97,000 Rhode Island households already devote more than half
of their incomes to housing. No more than 30 percent of income is
typically recommended. The state is expected to add up to 40,000
households this decade, which will require new construction and
renovations of existing units.
An estimated 155,000 households don't earn enough to afford average
rents on two-bedroom apartments, according to the study. Hangen projects
that number to increase to more than 200,000 households by 2010.
Those affected increasingly include workers who can't afford rent or a
mortgage, he said.
"People assume those burdened (by limited affordable housing) are
welfare recipients and the unemployed," Hangen said. "That's absolutely
not the case."
Gene Giguere, a pastor at Harvest Community Church in Woonsocket, said
more than half those staying in church-run shelters during the winter
are employed. Giguere said one man who used the shelter with his two
young daughters had been living in his car.
"He could afford a car but not an apartment," Giguere said.
The $9,500 study was commissioned as a challenge to the state and local
communities to create more affordable housing, said Joe Garlick,
executive director of the Woonsocket-based nonprofit developer.
"Ten percent is the absolute minimum needed," Garlick said.
Governor Carcieri and state lawmakers have approved $10 million over the
last two fiscal years to build more affordable housing.
Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said the governor is committed to continued
state spending to address the shortage. But Neal declined to comment on
the report's call for a specific number of affordable units.
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