Richmond nonprofit urges businesses to help address affordable housing
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For the first time, the Partnership for Housing Affordability is calling on businesses to help address the region's affordable housing crisis, according to the group's annual state of Richmond housing report
Why it matters: The report offers a sobering look at how far out of reach the cost of housing in Richmond has become for most locals.
The big picture: Among the findings in the State of Housing in the Richmond Region report from the local housing policy-focused nonprofit...
💸 The income needed to buy the average Richmond home has nearly doubled in four years.
- In 2020, a local only needed to make $62,005 to afford the median home price then: $292,000 at 3.11% interest.
- Last year, locals needed to make $122,866 to afford the 2024 median price of $410,00 (at 6.87%).
👩🏻🏫 Most essential workers, defined as police officers, elementary school teachers, childcare workers, paralegals, dental assistants and retail clerks — make between $25,590 and $61,797.
- That's clearly not enough to meet that $122,866 affordability threshold.
🗂️ Workers in four of the five most common job sectors in the region — office / administrative support, transportation, sales and restaurants — cannot afford the average rent in any metro Richmond locality.
- Affordable rent is only within reach for locals in the business or financial sector.
Zoom in: What's notable in this year's policy recommendations is the nonprofit's call for corporations to get involved in supporting affordable housing.
- This is the first time PHA has pushed the private sector to get more involved in, Mike Gray, a spokesperson for the group, tells Axios, and some have already expressed an interest in doing so.
- Plus, a lack of affordable homes can have a direct impact on businesses' bottom lines and their ability to retain workers, the report found.
For corporations that can afford to do so, PHA recommends they consider:
- Giving to existing affordable housing groups.
- Advocating for housing policy changes.
- Finance and/or build affordable housing for workers.
- Make housing assistance part of its employee benefits package.
What we're watching: Some corporate affordable housing initiatives may already be in the works.
- "The private/corporate announcements are not ready to be made yet but hopefully later this year," Gray tells Axios.