This week the Gazette question to the five commissioner candidates is: Do you believe or have evidence that we do or do not have a lack of affordable housing in Wake Forest? If there is a lack, what do you propose as strategies to provide more affordable housing? Keep in mind that Wake Forest has one of the largest concentrations of low-income housing – the three Wake County Housing Authority-operated units on North Allen Road, North White Street and West Oak Avenue – in the county. Does the town need homes, apartments and townhouses that the teachers, etc., can afford to either buy or rent?
Also, town residents should mark their calendars for the candidates’ forum sponsored by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Renaissance Centre. All the candidates plan to attend. If you have a question for the candidates to answer that night, send it to Chamber President Ann Welton at ann@wakeforestchamber.org.
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Bridget Wall-Lennon: As far as I can determine, the town of Wake Forest does not have hard numbers regarding the need or the lack of affordable housing for our town. Wake County and the City of Raleigh have more specific information or have task forces or committees looking at affordable housing. It is a platform issue that you hear candidates in just about all political campaigns talking about. As a town commissioner for Wake Forest, I would support commissioning a study to look more in-depth at this matter. If we did a study, it should include current needs, projected future needs, demographics and other factors, as well as look at models of towns similar to our town’s population to determine where we are regarding affordable housing for our town residents. This may be done by issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for professional services to conduct a study or we may even want to look at partnering with one of universities that has an Urban Planning program. Graduate study program are a more cost effective way to have a study conducted and oftentimes graduate students look for projects such as this to work on. As a matter of fact, US News ranks one of our very own state universities, University of North Carolina (UNC) as 5th for the Top 10 best graduate programs in the country for City Management and Urban Policy programs, which covers urban planning and community development.
With affordable housing being an issue in Raleigh, many people are locating to communities like Wake Forest. As a matter of fact, we moved to Wake Forest because we “got more house for our money” by purchasing a home in Wake Forest rather than in Raleigh. I believe a lot of people are realizing this; thus the influx of people moving to our beautiful town. Wake Forest has several low-income housing developments operated by the Wake County Housing Authority. We also have several townhome and apartment developments that are more affordable than some of our surrounding towns and cities. From my own experience, I know that renting an apartment can be just as expensive as actually paying a mortgage. So for me, when I talk about affording housing, I am also taking about providing homes that people can “afford” to purchase and own; and not only necessarily rent. I believe we should work towards moving individuals from “renters to buyers”. The town already partners with Habitat for Humanity to build low-income, affordable homes in our community. However, if the town has not already done so, I think it would be a great opportunity for the town to also partner with organizations like the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. NACA is a community advocacy and homeownership organization whose primary goal is to build strong and healthy neighborhoods in urban and rural areas nationwide through affordable homeownership. The success of these types of programs can only be realized when potential homeowners complete the program and find a surplus of affordable homes in safe and thriving communities like ours in Wake Forest.
For more information on my platform, please stop by my Meet & Greet on tomorrow Thursday, October 12th from 6pm to 8pm at the Stonegate at St. Andrew Clubhouse located off Forestville Road. I also invite you to visit my website at www.BridgetForWakeForest.com.
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Ned Jones: First, I disagree with the premise of your question teachers, firemen, school janitors and bus drivers are good middle-class jobs. Individuals in these jobs are proud of the critical services they provide to the community. And I am proud of them also.
- Frequently individuals that are just starting out in these jobs share a property with someone else, which demonstrates just how smart they are.
- There appear to be adequate opportunities to rent places in the Wake Forest area. My reference is a Google search of ‘Wake Forest rentals’ where I found properties ranging from just under $800 to $1100 per month.
- I also did a search for properties for sale in the Wake Forest area and found 68 for $250,000 or less and 47 properties in another search.
- If individuals who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and have an honorable discharge, qualify for the GI Bill which opens many doors for home ownership. I am a veteran and took advantage of the GI Bill to buy our first house.
- It appears that the free market is working very well in Wake Forest to provide for the residents in the area.
- As far as providing additional properties in Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Planning Board and Board of Commissioners will make decisions based on advice from the Wake Forest Planning Department and response from citizens and citizen groups on a case by case basis.
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John Van Ness: I am by no means an affordable housing expert but I do believe that thriving communities should be diverse- with different age groups, different socio-economic levels and different races and cultures living and working together. Wake Forest was chosen as the site for the first Habitat for Humanity project in Wake County, so we have a history of being on the forefront of creating affordable housing.
This past Saturday I volunteered at a Wake Forest Northeast Community Coalition/ Habitat for Humanity event and had a chance to talk with housing experts and community leaders. It’s estimated that approximately 100,000 Wake County residents spend more than 30% of take-home pay on housing. When you go past that threshold you are at greater risk of homelessness and not being able to provide for basic living expenses like transportation and food. I also had the chance to speak with a local teacher who expressed her concern over prices of single family homes in Wake Forest and how our housing market is pricing out young families.
In September 2016, the Wake County Board of Commissioners created an Affordable Housing Steering Committee to assess the housing situation and offer solutions to this county wide issue. If we want to enact change we need to work with this committee. I will work to have representation with this group and tackle the problem collaboratively.
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Liz Simpers: Affordable housing is a challenge in fast-growing metro areas throughout the U.S., and our town is not immune to it! A great place to start is to look at the strategic plan on the town’s web site. This plan includes conducting a formal housing demand analysis so we have the data that can prove the need, rather than the anecdotal feelings we might have around town. Once we have that data, I think we should find a reasonable balance between the need for affordable housing and knee-jerk mandates that would likely drive up the cost of housing for everyone. How do we offer the right public policy solutions that enable market forces to help with this challenge?
As land diminishes, the decisions we make in the next four years will affect our next forty years. Affordable housing that our residents can choose to rent or buy is an issue in our community and throughout the Triangle region. I see it being an opportunity we will navigate for years to come. Especially as we desire to create a town where we can work, play, and live. The great news is, we have many experts in our town to help us chart the course! You can count on me to listen, learn, and help develop reasonable policy solutions for our community. I would be honored to have one of your two votes for town commissioner!
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Thad Juszczak: The first step in answering any question about affordable housing is to define what it is. A common definition is that housing is affordable if it costs less than 30 percent of a household’s income. So, the actual number of people who need affordable housing varies with their income. Wake County estimates that over 100,000 families in the county need affordable housing.
The median household income in the town is about $77K. Considering the cost of housing in the Town, this is probably “evidence” that some households in the Town must spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a town problem. In our federal system, the federal government, the states, the counties, and municipalities each have responsibilities. Some consider it optimum urban planning that people can live where they work, but this is no rule. Many people who live in Wake Forest work in Raleigh; they choose to live here. Similarly, not everyone who works here wants to live here. To address affordable housing issues, you must take a larger view than just one town.
Whether the town wants to do something about affordable housing is a public policy question. Many of our residents might agree that town and county employees (such as those in public safety, schools, etc.) should be able to afford to live in the town. (Note: There are many problems associated with how we could limit affordable housing to just these people.) However, I wonder if the same residents would agree with having that affordable housing in their neighborhood. This might be a NIMBY issue, but people certainly have the right to protect their single largest investment – their homes. Would residents support a bond issue to raise money for the town to address the issue?
The town is already doing some small part to address affordable housing by working with Habitat for Humanity to build some affordable housing within the town. This seems reasonable.
Some (myself included) would argue that housing is a county responsibility, like social services. Wake County has an Affordable Housing Steering Committee tasked to develop a 20-year comprehensive plan for affordable housing in the county, including Wake Forest. Perhaps the town’s best approach would be to work with that committee to address the issue.
3 Responses
Many people who are “middle class” and do not own a home is often due to factors outside of their control (divorce, spouse’s death, medical bills, etc). Many police officers will apply for Habitat homes, especially their early career when their income doesn’t make it feasible for them to buy a house, especially if they have other situations (ie. special needs family member, medical bills, etc). WRAL had a piece about a teacher who was homeless for 3 years and no one knew it. Please don’t be so narrow minded to think that this is not happening in WF. I’m all for helping people who are an asset to the community and live by our laws. I’d rather rid the community of those who drain the city for their own selfish reasons (crime) or harm any civilized member of the community. $800 a month rent is a lot when someone is going through a divorce, cancer treatments, etc. I hope that the new commissioners will truly look at issues with their eyes wide open and not speculate or brush aside an issue just because they don’t think it is a real issue. I have many neighbors who have to have their extended families (3+ generations) living with them as they can not afford to buy their own home nearby.
An excellent starting point for a discussion on affordable housing would be a very crisp detailed definition. 30% or less of income has been mentioned. Is that a before or after taxes? What does that 30% include:
– mortgage principle and interest?
– property taxes?
– property insurance?
– property maintenance?
– electricity?
– water and sewer?
– natural gas/propane?
– Home owner’s association fees
What about cost of obtaining ownership such as down payment, appraisals, surveys, etc.?
Many rent because they can’t pay the cost of obtaining ownership and lose two ways – pay more for rent and lose tax advantage/appreciation.
There should be an evaluation of a person’s suitability for ownership also. I believe Habitat for Humanity addresses this aspect. Suitability includes ability to maintain a budget sufficient to pay for the housing as well as to set aside money for the maintenance. Suitability also includes the inclination/ability to maintain the property. This is an important aspect for seniors and disabled. For example, grass needs to be cut and gutters need to be cleaned. In townhome/condo communities these are usually included and covered by the HOA fees.
During the last couple of decades there has been a push for home ownership. Unfortunately too many got into home ownership but were not able to sustain it. In our community there have been several foreclosures and situations where people have not been able to maintain their property. From a public policy viewpoint, should we collectively as the owners of our government be responsible for the risk of backing up home ownership? If we are to enter into risk then what requirements do we impose?
Currently, there is a program that provides income based rent subsidies at particular apartment complexes. Do not know how ‘perfect’ this works but I do know that there is a fairly strict management in regards to be able to obtain a subsidized rental and in regards to making on time rent payments and in regards to expected behavior. A person must have income to rent. Is part of the solution a need for more of these complexes? Can we accept that a person/family having a need for this type of housing solution does not otherwise infer negatives toward them?
With regards to home ownership, working with an organization with a proven track record like Habitat for Humanity on a local level may be a better solution than ramping up more government bureaucracy at every level.
In the next few years we are going to see the affordable housing issue become more of an issue for seniors. In areas of high growth where cost of housing increases dramatically while income, if computed as buying power, declines seniors can get squeezed. The cost and energy to maintain their existing home may be too great but the cost to move to a more suitable arrangement can be too great.
The cost of new housing in Wake Forest has increased significantly. I find some of the increase most interesting. The great mystery of real estate. We can have a 15 year old nice neighborhood of 1/4 acre lots with houses in the 2000 to 3500 sq ft range. Across the main street a new development is being built with basically the same size lots and the range in house sizes. The older development houses sell in the $220K – $300K range. The new development’s sign says they start at $400K. Really interested to see if there is a more than 33% increase in actual value between the old and the new. Or is this another real estate bubble?
Sadly, it appears that a majority of these candidates are badly misinformed. They not only do not understand the term “affordable housing”, but they casually lump people like me into a category in which I do not fit! My income is barely above poverty level. I do not work; I am disabled. I have no desire to live within an apartment community. I’ve been there and done that. Transportation, food costs, even entertainment costs are far above what I can afford. I’m a senior, but I am not yet on Medicare, which means I am paying out the nose for what little healthcare I get. To sit there and say that there are many townhomes (I can’t climb stairs) and apartments (try fighting constantly for a handicapped space) is a lame answer that has obviously been given very little thought!