Memorandum
To: New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York city Mayor Bill Deblasio, New York City Deputy Mayor for housing and economic development Alicia Glen, Chair & Chief Executive Officer New York city housing authority Shola Olatoye.
From: Chris Tagoe
Date: September 15, 2015
RE: Housing Affordability Crisis in New York City.
Shelter is a social good that provides security for families, communities and society in general. It also serves as an economic stimulus for growth and development. However, it is usually the largest expenditure item on a family’s budget be it rent or mortgage. The inability of the housing delivery system to efficiently meet demand over the years has created strains on the existing housing stock and infrastructure. The growing gap between housing supply and demand has been recognized by government to be a major problem. If left alone the market is not able to meet that need, and accordingly, governments at all levels have intervened and worked hard to fix this problem. This necessitated the establishment of The U.S. Public housing program, which was designed to provide adequate housing to the low income American families. The Housing Act of 1949 seeks to provide every American family with a decent home as well as a comfortable and suitable living environment. With demand outgrowing supply, the price of housing has rocketed over the past years. This price hike is most evident in New York City where housing affordability has been a great burden on low income New Yorkers. Declining federal support in recent years and the strengthening of the real estate market have had an enormous effect on the livability, diversity and character of the city.
The dwindling supply of public housing and low cost housing has contributed to the rising affordable housing shortage being faced in the city. This coupled with the stagnation of wages has resulted in the creation of a huge financial burden on low income earners. They have seen their purchasing power erode in the housing marketplace. This has also led to substandard housing, overcrowding and an increase in the number of families who rely on the cities shelter system for shelter.
This high cost of housing has also led most low income households to spend over 30 percent of their income on housing costs, thereby leaving them with little or nothing to spend on the basic necessities of life like health care, food, clothing and education.
With more than more 50,000 New Yorkers sleeping in homeless shelters and hundreds of thousands more struggle to pay high rents with meager earnings, the issue of affordable housing has become a colossal humanitarian problem that needs urgent attention.
REFERENCES
Center for the Study of Social Policy. 2011. Affordable Housing as a Platform for improving Family Well Being: Federal Funding and Policy Opportunities. http://www.cssp.org/publications/neighborhood-investment/financing-community-change/Affordable-Housing-as-a-Platform-for-Improving-Family-Well-Being-June-2011.docx.pdf accessed 09/14/2015
Fiore, M. G. & B. Lipman. 2003. Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America. New Century Housing 2, 2. Washington DC: Center for Housing Policy/ National Housing Conference. Retrieved from http://www.nhc.org/pdf/Pub_PP_05_03.pdf. Accessed 09/13/2015
Phyllis Furman 2013. New York Daily News: Study: City’s Escalating Rents Eat away as much as half of Low-Income New Yorkers’ Pay Checks. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/study-city-escalating-rents-eat-low-income-new-yorkers-pay-checks-article-1.1099595#ixzz2nwDVGaZV Accessed 12/17/2013
State of New York Comptroller, 2009. The Decline in Affordable Housing in New York City. Report No. 2-2010 retrieved from http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/2-2010/housingrpt2_2010.pdf accessed 12/22/2013
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Affordable Housing http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing accessed 09/13/2015