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Standing outside Pottstown Library on a recent Saturday afternoon, I talked to a handful of landlords over the phone about apartments for rent in the neighborhood.
“With your income, you would be spending more than 30% of your income on rent. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room for other things,” one prospective landlord from the Main Line said.
“I budget really well and have been renting for a long time,” I replied. “I’m comfortable with the numbers if you are.”
We looked at her one and two-bedroom apartments near the Ice House and Memorial Park in the historic district. Contractors were busy making renovations when we arrived. The smell of sawdust and Wawa coffee lingered in the air.
“The previous tenant had too many people living here,” she explained. Apparently, the living room was used as a bedroom by grandma, with three teenagers and their mother also in the dwelling.
“Affordable rooms are hard to come by,” I replied.
Elsewhere at a different property, the maintenance man showed me a recently renovated apartment above a restaurant. The owner checked in with him over the phone while we were talking.
“What’s he like?” my host said into his smartphone. “Well, he’s clean cut. Good conversationalist. He’s not one of the homeless.”
People with decent jobs are spending a disproportionate amount of their income on rent. According to a recent Redfin report the greater Philadelphia region was the ninth most expensive in the country. Those who often struggle the most to find a place they can afford encounter a common hurdle: first month’s rent, last month, and a security deposit. For an apartment listed at $1,400, that’s $4,200 down. You may have heard that inflation was tough the past few years, so saving is easier said than done. Organizations like Orion in Phoenixville can help with a portion of this large lump sum. Other renters – such as people on fixed incomes (Disability and Social Security) – often make less than $2,000 per month.
Solutions proposed:
Create a county-wide Work Group that will create dedicated, proactive initiatives to address major impediments to affordable housing development, bring in new financing models or structures like Community Land Trusts, Land Banks, etc., and partner with philanthropy and the private sector to pool funding.
Establish a county-wide Zoning Work Group which will source new ideas and implement solutions for growing the number of municipalities that have inclusionary zoning practices. This may include identifying strategies like density bonuses for affordability in certain districts; reduction in parking requirements, adding high-density options, etc.
Create a model ordinance and encourage all municipalities to pass a local law banning “source of income discrimination.” Sometimes, people with Housing Choice Vouchers cannot find a landlord who is willing to accept the voucher, which caps the tenant’s rent at 30% of their income. The Montgomery County Housing Authority – with HUD dollars – pays for the difference between the market rent and 30% figure.
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