"Top concern": Richmonders sound alarm on housing affordability
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Richmonders are overwhelmingly worried about housing affordability, according to a just-released survey by the Richmond Association of Realtors.
Why it matters: The survey found big disparities in how locals view Richmond's housing problems, but 74% agree affordability is a "very" or "fairly" big problem.
What they're saying: "The housing ladder is broken — people can't move up, down or across because there's nowhere to go," RAR CEO Laura Lafayette tells Axios.
- "The survey confirms that residents not only recognize this but are feeling its impact on affordability firsthand."
State of play: The association commissioned American Strategies, which surveyed 654 registered voters in the city between April 28 and May 2.
What they found: 72% support building more housing in their neighborhood.
- 66% said the city needs more types of housing, duplexes, condos, townhomes and small homes.
- 38% cited housing costs and availability as the "top concern" they want city officials to focus on, higher than any issue (water and sewer were second at 20%) .
Between the lines: There were generational, race and income divides.
- 91% of Black respondents under age 50 said they need more affordable housing built in their neighborhoods, as opposed to 69% of white residents in the same age group.
- For the over-50 crowd, 74% of Black voters said they need more affordable housing built, compared with 48% of white people over 50.
- 55% of non-homeowners said housing availability in the city is a "big problem," compared with 41% of homeowners.
The intrigue: Locals seemed to agree that the city is doing just fine on apartment availability, though.
- 44% of respondents said the city has "the right amount of apartments available," and 24% said there are too many.
Reality check: The city is short about 15,900 affordable rental units for what its lower-income residents need, says Jovan Burton, executive director of Richmond's Partnership for Housing Affordability.
Zoom out: RAR released its survey results as the city tackles the biggest rewrite of its zoning ordinances in decades, Lafayette says.
- The hope is that it'll help inform officials about what locals think about housing as they get closer to finalizing the massive zoning refresh, which is broadly aimed at increasing the housing supply.
- Similar zoning updates in other parts of Virginia, like Charlottesville and Arlington, have resulted in lawsuits by residents attempting to preserve single-family-only neighborhoods.
Worth noting: Just 22% of respondents said they'd heard of the city's zoning refresh.
Fun fact: Mayor Danny Avula happened to be one of the Richmond voters called for the survey.
- Avula tells Axios he's very supportive of more affordable housing.
The fine print: The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.8%.