RIVERSIDE – (INT) – A new report paints a dim picture about housing affordability in Riverside County.

The California Housing Partnership Corporation (CHPC) found:

-The elimination of redevelopment in 2012 and exhaustion of state bond funding foreshadowed a 11% rise in homelessness from 2016 to 2017.

- Renters in Riverside County need to earn $29.13/hr - 2.6 times state minimum wage - to afford the median monthly asking rent of $1,515.

- Riverside County’s lowest-income renters spend 66% of income on rent, leaving little left for food, transportation, health care, and other essentials.

- Riverside County needs 64,526 more affordable rental homes to meet current demand.

- When housing costs are considered, Riverside County’s poverty rate rises from 16.3% to 19%.

The CHPC is calling on state leaders to take the following actions to provide relief to low-income families struggling with the high cost of housing by immediately invest $1 billion of the state’s budget surplus to finance the development of permanently affordable rental housing and another $1 billion for supportive housing for the homeless.

Recommendations for Riverside County:

-Identify and take advantage of all opportunities to create affordable housing as a priority use on vacant and underutilized publicly-owned sites suitable for residential and mixed-use development.

-Provide infrastructure improvements to facilitate new and infill-residential development and to improve the quality of life in low-income communities with priority given to sites providing the most affordable housing where developers are also leveraging federal and state funding.

- Dedicate all or a significant portion of former redevelopment “boomerang” funds for affordable housing purposes.

-Explore implementing a countywide fee on short term rentals that are taking critical affordable housing out of circulation.

-Help local elected officials learn more about what affordable housing is as well as the economic and other benefits its construction and preservation bring to local communities.

In the report issued Wednesday, it was found that the Median Asking Rent is $1,515/Month and that income needed to afford that rent is just over $5,000/mo or $29.13/hour.

Story Date: May 22, 2018