Rising rents squeeze Idaho families

COEUR d’ALENE — Idaho continues to experience a shortage of affordable and available homes for Idahoans with modest incomes, according to a new report recently released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Idaho Asset Building Network. 

The report found that Idaho has 42 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with modest incomes, and there is a total shortage of over 21,200 affordable and available rental homes for renters earning this income.

"The number of renters with modest incomes rose while the number of units affordable to them shrank in the past five years,” said Kendra Knighten, director of Policy and Research with the Idaho Asset Building Network, in a press release.

She said that since 2019, the shortage of affordable and available homes for renters with modest incomes has increased by about 12%. Rent has shot up faster.

Two-bedroom apartments in Post Falls go for about $1,500 a month and can be even higher in Coeur d'Alene. One 952-square-foot unit in Coeur d'Alene was offered at nearly $1,800 a month. A four-bedroom home in Coeur d'Alene carried monthly rental of nearly $3,000.

“Today, seven out of 10 Idaho renters with modest incomes pay more than half of their incomes on rent, putting these families in very precarious financial situations,” Knighten said.

Maggie Lyons, executive director of the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance, said there is a large segment of the population in Kootenai County that needs affordable rentals, but the high cost to buy a home is equally concerning.

“My hope is we can start providing home ownership opportunities,” she said.

The median price of a single-family home in Kootenai County was at $499,500 in February, which is a problem when people earning $65,000 a year are considered low income in an area where the median income is $93,000.

A home is considered affordable when a family pays no more than 30% of their income on rent. Spending over one-third of household income on a home means little is left over for basic necessities, the release said.

With daily expenses, Lyons said it’s difficult for many to save money for a home down payment.

“New people are faced with not being able to make ends meet, and they’ve never been in that position before,” she said.

More apartments with lower rents would help, but Lyons said the high cost of land makes that prohibitive for builders.

Government assistance is necessary because projects won’t pencil out with traditional financing, Lyons said, 

“There’s no way the private industry can do this,” she said.

The report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Idaho Asset Building Network agreed with Lyons.

It said long-term federal investments in affordable homes are needed to combat the underlying shortage of affordable housing to ensure that Idaho families lead stable, healthy and content lives. 

“Federal policies and funding play an important role in ensuring Idahoans can live in affordable homes by alleviating the burdens caused by high rents and a shortage of affordable housing options,” a press release said. 

It went on to say that “Congress must support policies that create more affordable housing, increase funding and protections for housing choice vouchers, limit the costs of evictions, and improve already existing housing that needs rehabilitation."