High-Cost Housing Drains Workers’ Pay : Report: Affordable units at 30% of monthly income are tough for even the middle class to find within the county.
Orange County’s reputation of abundant affluence is belied by the critical shortage of affordable housing that has forced even full-time workers to spend more than half their monthly income on housing, according to a report released Monday by the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force.
The study found that while low-income residents “have an especially hard time finding suitable housing,” the lack of affordable units to rent or purchase cuts across a broad swath of the county’s work force, including middle-income workers such as police officers and teachers, elderly people and young married couples.
According to federal guidelines, housing is “affordable” if money spent on housing does not exceed 30% of the monthly income.
“In community after community in Orange County, people are being priced out of buying or renting the kind of housing they could afford,” the report states. “The land of opportunity has become the land of a frustrating and often unrewarded search for an affordable home.”
The report, touted as a “wake-up call” to developers, politicians and other Orange County residents, was funded by the James Irvine Foundation and prepared by planning consultant Patricia D. Jenkins.
It is a local version of a study released last month by the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which found that Orange County had the worst record among 44 metropolitan areas for providing affordable housing, with almost six low-income renters for every low-rent unit.
Among the findings included in the local study, which was based on 1990 Census figures:
* One of every five households in Orange County earns less than $22,961, half of the median income. And among all households, 38% earn less than $36,700.
* A person earning $23,000 can afford to spend up to $575 each month for housing. But in 1991, average monthly rents were $670 for a one-bedroom apartment and $980 for a three-bedroom. One result is that families double up in single units to afford the rent.
* More than 23,000 children under age 5 live in poverty.
* An estimated 20,000 households must wait an average of at least five years for rental assistance. Those wanting help to meet the rent for three-bedroom units face an average wait of 10 to 15 years.
And unless the local level of public and private funding for affordable housing increases, the outlook is bleak, according to the findings.
Based on a countywide survey that drew responses from officials in only 11 of 33 cities, researchers expect the unmet need for housing to reach 43,850 units by 1994. Had all cities answered questions about the need for housing, including Anaheim and Santa Ana, the two largest cities, which have high concentrations of low-income residents, the conclusion “would be worse,” Jenkins said during a news conference Monday.
Also, almost 4,000 units that were constructed during the 1960s and 1970s with federal loans and subsidies will have funding restrictions lifted by 2008 and could be put back on the open market, further diminishing the supply of affordable units, the report states.
To narrow the gap between the high demand and low affordable housing availability, housing advocates said, several barriers must be overcome, such as the lack of “political will” to create new units, the high cost of land and construction, excessive regulations, limited access to financial resources, and the “not-in-my-back-yard syndrome.”
“There’s going to have to be a societal change where, either our wage structure changes to some extent, or where the government (officials) at all levels realize that they serve the entire population and that they take into account that certain portions of the population need to have their needs met through public policy,” said Toni Dwyer, who serves on the board of the Orange County Affordable Housing Clearinghouse.
Housing advocates said they plan to take the report to each Orange County city to lobby for developer incentives to spur reasonably priced housing.
Lee Podolak, chairwoman of the Homeless Issues Task Force, said the advocates also hope to show how affordable housing can help the entire community.
Building or rehabilitating affordable housing closer to where jobs are located would reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality, help the construction industry and reduce homelessness and residential overcrowding.
“Our report responds to this phenomenon by putting a face on Orange County’s low-income population,” Podolak said. “Many work every day as preschool teachers, nurses’ aides, truck drivers and minimum-wage earners. Yes, the term ‘low-income’ includes families and individuals with little or no income, but it also includes working people earning $25,000 or even $35,000 a year.”
Affordable Housing Shortage Many of the people working in Orange County cannot afford to live here. A better balance of jobs and affordable housing would, according to a study by the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force, improve air quality, traffic congestion and the overall quality of life. It would also alleviate residential overcrowding, which tends to deteriorate neighborhoods. Expensive Rentals Very little of Orange County’s occupied rental stock is low-priced. In fact, eight units in 10 rent for more than $600 monthly, with more than half in excess of $750. Rent free: 1% $1-299: 2% $300-449: 3% $450-549: 5% $550-599: 6% $600-749: 27% $750 and more: 56% Housing-Wage Squeeze The federal government standard for housing costs as a percentage of income is 30%. Here’s how local housing costs--with an average monthly rate of $779--can overwhelm those in low-paying jobs.
Avg. Monthly % of Rental Wages Rate ($779)* Nurses’ aide $960 81% Amusement park attendant 1,152 68% Delivery truck driver 1,160 67% Home health care worker 1,280 61% Preschool teacher 1,320 59% Waiter/waitress 1,333 58%
* Average rental rate is for a two-bedroom unit Rental Market The least expensive median rent prices tend to be North County locations, while the priciest are centered in the south. Lowest Median Rents La Habra: $634 Fullerton: 659 Anaheim: 661 Stanton: 671 Buena Park: 675 Highest Median Rents Villa Park: $1,001 Mission Viejo: $969 Newport Beach: $961 Irvine: $913 Laguna Niguel: $901 Rental Increases Even in the communities with the lowest increase in median rental rates between 1980 and 1990, prices climbed at a rate of 10% per year. Largest Increases, 1980-90 Los Alamitos: 135% Laguna Beach: 135% Placentia: 128% Yorba Linda: 125% San Juan Capistrano: 124% Smallest Increases, 1980-90 Buena Park: 107% Cypress: 103% La Palma: 102% Irvine: 101% Villa Park: 100% Source: Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force
