HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — As inflation continues and housing prices soar, thousands of people in Hampton Roads are on waiting lists for affordable housing.
Leading a family of seven, Tonya and Jeffrey Scott have been on a long journey to find a place to live. Jeffrey said the troubles started when he was injured on the job which prevented them from closing on a house prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic hit, Tonya lost her daycare business.
On top of those struggles, Jeffrey then got COVID-19 and was rushed to the hospital in front of his family. They were terrified but Jeffrey said he was confident he would survive.
Like so many people across Hampton Roads, the Scott’s struggle to find affordable housing, especially with the size of their family.
“We’re a large family,” said Jeffrey. “It’s hard to find a property temporarily.”
But after blood, sweat, and tears, the Scott's about to move into a new Habitat for Humanity House on the Peninsula. They’ve been working with the program for years to make this a reality. They said they lived in AirB&B’s, hotels, and at the homes of loved ones. They said it was hard to find a place that could fit the entire family at a reasonable price.
Janet Green, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg said this past year they received 250 applications which is a record number.
“I’ve been with Habitat for 20 years and that’s more than double what we’ve ever received. People are really struggling,” said Green.
News 3 has been investigating the housing situation and reaching out to local redevelopment and housing authorities. News 3 asked the different cities about the number of people using Section 8 vouchers as well as the number of people on waiting lists to get into affordable housing. The information they provided is at the bottom of this article.
All of the cities said they’ve seen an increase in demand.
“I’d say we’re getting two or three times the number of inquiries now that we have in the past,” said Karen Wilds, the executive director of the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “Vacancy rates were very low. The demand for housing has been very high and it’s creating some rental increases."
As part of the way to provide more housing, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a $30 million grant to transform parts of the Marshall-Ridley neighborhoods in Newport News. Housing officials said it’s creating additional housing options while revitalizing a historic neighborhood.
“We will be going to our board next month to increase our payment standards to help people use vouchers,” said Wilds.
But she said like all the cities in the region they have a fixed number of vouchers, and there just aren't enough to go around.
“For every voucher that we have, there are probably three or four people who qualify to have one,” said Wilds.
The Scott family has put in countless hours of hard work and it's paying off. They hope to get the final paperwork in order for the new house within the next few days. They are delighted at the idea of being able to have Thanksgiving in their new home this year.
Jeffrey Scott said that the hardships the family has gone through have made them closer as they continued to focus on their mission.
“I can’t wait to cook and have a table where we can sit together because it brought us together just sitting and talking so I can’t wait for that,” said Tonya Scott.
Information from the City of Hampton:
What kind of affordable housing is available in your city?
Hampton actually has a large amount of affordable housing compared with many localities in the area. Because we are such an old and built-out city, we have a lot of homes that were built in the ‘50s and later that are priced below the area’s median. SmartAssett has placed Hampton on its list of “Most Affordable Beach Towns” for several years.
How many people are currently using section 8 vouchers in your city?
2741
How many people are on the waiting list for section 8 or affordable housing in your city?
290 (People can apply to many localities and be on the waiting list in several places. They don’t need to be from Hampton or even the region)
Have you seen an increase in the number of people in need of help due to the increase in rent prices and inflation?
Because rents have risen so quickly recently, people who have vouchers from the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority has reported that they are increasingly unable to find units available to rent within HUD payment standards. In September 2022 HUD increased the payment standards that we hope will enable the section 8 program to keep up with rent increases in the private market.
If so, has the city made any recent changes to accommodate the greater need?
The City has committed to address housing affordability for both renters and owners through several programs (not all new):
Homeowner housing renovation/relief programs
(Model Block, Rock the Block, with $2 million in city funds and $3 million allocated in federal funds for FY23-24
increasing affordable homeownership opportunities
(HRHA & Habitat new construction),
supporting efforts around eviction diversion/education
(UWVP Eviction Prevention, National League of Cities Eviction Learning Lab),
improving the quality of workforce housing through strategic planning support
(DHCD designation making Monroe Gates financing possible, policy to support LIHTC applications for existing structure renovation ensuring residents have safe and secure living conditions
(Rental Inspection Program, Hotel Inspection Program, Homeless/Emergency Housing Funding [CDBG CARES], increasing funding to outside agencies).
Model Block is one of the newer ones, in which the city would demonstrate ways to update older houses with good bones to fit modern buyers. It’s not fully launched yet, but we are working on it. If you want more details on any of the last bullets, I can connect you with someone in Housing and Neighborhood Services area.
Information from the City of Norfolk:
Per the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, there currently are more than 4,000 Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) recipients in the city. An additional 15,500+ persons are awaiting housing assistance, with ~14,000 waiting to receive HCV status and another ~1,700 awaiting public housing.
Note: some on the HCV waitlist currently reside in public housing, while some others are on wait lists for both HCV and public housing.
Information from the City of Newport News:
What kind of affordable housing is available in your city?
Traditional Public housing - 839;
Housing Choice Vouchers - 2880;
Mainstream vouchers - 141;
Emergency Housing Vouchers - 47; privately owned project-based voucher properties and privately owned Low Income Housing Tax Credit
How many people are currently using section 8 vouchers in your city?
2761
How many people are on the waiting list for section 8 and Public Housing or affordable housing in your city?
570
Have you seen an increase in the number of people in need of help due to the increase in rent prices and inflation?
There has been an increase in inquiries for affordable housing.
If so, has the city made any recent changes to accommodate the greater need?
All affordable housing subsidies are provided by HUD, we have requested additional emergency housing vouchers and have recently been awarded an additional 15 Housing Choice Vouchers.
Information from the City of Portsmouth:
What kind of affordable housing is available in your city?
The PRHA has 564 public housing units, 707 low-income units, and 56 market-rate units.
How many people are currently using section 8 vouchers in your city?
People that are currently using Section 8 are 1930 that are managed by PRHA.
How many people are on the waiting list for section 8 or affordable housing in your city?
People on the PRHA Section 8 waitlist: 3,200
People on the PRHA public housing and low-income wait lists: 4,916.
Have you seen an increase in the number of people in need of help due to the increase in rent prices and inflation?
PRHA has seen an increase.
Information from the City of Chesapeake:
What kind of affordable housing is available in your city?
There are different types of “affordable housing” in Chesapeake (and most cities, towns and counties) that serve a range of needs across a housing continuum that includes emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, income-based project-based housing, tenant-based rental assistance for housing with rents at or below fair market rent, housing that is income-restricted with rents limited to those affordable to households with incomes between 40 and 100% of Area Median Income (typically financed under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program or other Federal or State programs providing development subsidies), and for-sale housing that is affordable to households making at or about 80% of Area Median Income.
How many people are currently using section 8 vouchers in your city?
Currently, CRHA is providing Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) to 1,398 households in Chesapeake. When including other programs that provide tenant-based rental assistance, CRHA is serving 1,614 families and individuals.
How many people are on the waiting list for section 8 or affordable housing in your city?
CRHA’s current waitlists include 5,454 households seeking Low Income Public Housing, 9,127 households seeking Housing Choice Vouchers and 807 households seeking privately owned rental units with Project-Based Vouchers administered by CRHA. There are other privately owned apartments with Project-Based rental assistance in Chesapeake with direct housing assistance payment agreements with HUD that serve approximately 1,000 households (They maintain their own waitlists.)
Have you seen an increase in the number of people in need of help due to the increase in rent prices and inflation?
We’ve seen an increase in the number of families and individuals calling for assistance during the recent increases in rents, but since our waitlist for Housing Choice Vouchers has not been open for new applicants since early 2020, we do not have firm numbers of that need. The most direct impact we have seen from the increases in rent is the time it’s been taking for households that have been approved for tenant-based rental assistance to find apartments to lease. This is because a household with tenant-based rental assistance generally must lease at a rent that is limited to “Fair Market Rents” for the area as determined by HUD. While HUD has taken recent steps to increase its “Fair Market Rent” schedules, we believe that HUD’s schedules still lag below the actual rents being asked for by landlords in Hampton Roads since the pandemic.
If so, has the city made any recent changes to accommodate the greater need?
The City’s Chesapeake Thrives initiative has included the formation of an interagency Housing Workgroup that is working to identify goals and strategies for closing gaps in the availability of housing throughout the housing continuum. A lot of the strategies being identified by the workgroup will require further local and regional policy discussions among elected and appointed leaders. They could include: providing incentives to housing developers that participate or increase their participation in programs that serve low and moderate income households; streamlined land use approval processes for housing offering below market rents; housing development subsidies for costs associated with new housing that are typically covered by developer proffers; and outright restrictions on annual rent increases for existing tenants in good standing. It is emphasized that NONE of these strategies have been approved to date and that more discussion will be needed in Chesapeake and throughout Hampton Roads before decisions on these measures are made.
Click or tap here to read the information for the City of Virginia Beach.
