Affordable Housing

Washington County, Oregon, has some of the most expensive housing in the state of Oregon. One in five households in the County lack affordable housing. There are several reasons for this. Income has not kept pace with the costs of housing and the rapid job growth is occurring mostly in the service industry and other low paying areas. There has also been an emphasis on new construction. This means that rather than building multiple family dwellings where people of many income levels can live in close proximity to one another, the trend has been to build expensive, single-family homes. all of these factors are contributing to the current shortage of affordable housing.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers housing "affordable" if it costs no more than 30 percent of a household's monthly income for rent or mortgage and utilities. For a household with an income of $14,250, or 30 percent of the median annual income for those making minimum wage, no more than $356 per month is considered affordable. An annual income of $23,750 falls below 50 percent of median family income and no more than $594 per month is considered affordable.

In contrast, the costs to live in Washington County are not affordable for many people, especially those whose incomes are at or below median family income levels. The fair market rent (FMR) for a one-bedroom apartment in Washington County is $625 for a one-bedroom apartment, $723 for a two-bedroom apartment and $1,053 for a three-bedroom apartment.

Benefits of Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing is good for the entire community. It serves families, seniors and people with disabilities. In order to have complete communities, people of diverse economic and racial backgrounds must be able to live together. That means, a range of housing options must be available to meet diverse needs, including those of families, senior citizens and people with special needs. Complete communities are those which have housing choices where people are able to live close to employment opportunities, community services and public transportation. People can become close to their neighbors or fellow community members who may help with things like grocery shopping, home maintenance and trips to the doctor.

Affordable housing is also beneficial to the community because it revitalizes distressed areas and allows low-income people to live in areas taht would have been outside of their reach, making communities more diverse. It allows people to live closer to where they work, helping to reduce commuter traffic and improving air quality. It is also economically beneficial to the community, because people tend to purchase consumer goods close to where they live and the number of local jobs is increased. In addition, affordable housing helps decrease public expenditures because it provides stable living situations for people who are homeless and have special needs.

Some affordable housing is built or renovated by government agencies. Increasingly however, affordable housing is built by private developers, which are often nonprofit organizations that are financed through a combination of private funding, government subsidies and rental income. Federal funding available for affordable housing has been cut dramatically, increasing the burden upon which local government and private fund raising to bridge the gap and try to meet the great need for affordable housing in our communities.

It may be very difficult, if not impoossible, to tell the difference between affordable housing and market-rate housing. Often people are surprised to learn that attractive, well designed apartments are actually subsidized homes for people who cannot afford to pay market rents.

See our Communities section for recent projects.

The Community Housing Fund is a catalyst for promoting the search for affordable housing resources.
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