Study: Idaho lacks affordable housing

COEUR d’ALENE — A recent report by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and the Idaho Asset Building Network found a national shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for renters with extremely low-incomes.

“Families and children thrive when they live in affordable homes, but too many Idaho families don’t have that option right now due to high rents and an insufficient supply of affordable and available homes statewide,” said Kendra Knighten, policy associate at the Idaho Asset Building Network.

“The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes,” found that the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by significant rent increases, drastically impacted the supply of affordable and available rental homes.

In Idaho, there are 39,722 extremely low-income households but only 15,012 affordable rental homes available to them. Idaho has 38 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with extremely low incomes, according to a press release.

Facing a shortage of 24,710 affordable and available rental homes, two out of three of these renter families are severely burdened by housing costs.

A home is considered affordable when a family spends no more than 30% of its income on rent. Families are left with little left over for necessities like groceries, child care, gas and medications when they are forced to spend more than one-third of their household income on rent.

“In the last year, in all 44 counties with ARPA funds, we provided fair-housing legal services to and helped Idahoans access almost $2 million in rental assistance and hotel vouchers to prevent homelessness or rapidly rehouse,” said Zoe Ann Olson, executive director, Intermountain Fair Housing Council.

She said the emergency rental and voucher assistance is a lifesaver when tenants are facing eviction or sharp rent increases.

But she said it is not enough when there are more than 14 mass evictions throughout Idaho, and there are no shelters and little to no affordable, accessible housing for those living below 100% of Area Medium Income in most counties.

“Idahoans are facing a serious housing crisis for which ERAP alone cannot solve,” Olson said.

Maggie Lyons, interim executive director of the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance, said there must be a private/public partnership to produce the housing units needed for the middle class.

One possibility she cited includes selling homes built via partnerships at a certain price point, on the condition that the owner must sell it in that price range.

“When they re-sell, there’s a cap,” said Lyons, who is speaking at “Housing Strategies for the Inland Northwest” today in Post Falls.

Lyons said while high-density housing is usually frowned upon, it can be a way to provide more middle-class homes that work for builders and buyers.

She said condos, townhouses and cluster housing, done right via public/private partnerships, could be a part of a solution.

Lyons said a family of four earning $31 an hour is considered poor by Housing and Urban Development.

In Kootenai County, that is considered a good wage, but it’s not near enough to buy a home when the median single-family home price is $511,000.

Rent is up, as well.

CDA 2030 looked at historic Kootenai County rental data going back to 2017. Overall rent prices increased from $989 in May 2017 to $1,695 per month in 2022, an increase of more than 71%, according to the Regional Housing and Growth Issues Partnership.

Knighten said the high cost of housing places more Idaho families at risk of experiencing eviction and homelessness.

“It is in our state’s best interest to promote the development of more affordable homes," she said.