Category: CBD News

Fair Share Housing Center – Fighting for fair and affordable housing in New Jersey

December 30, 2017

2017 accomplishments and forward to 2018!

Posted by Kevin Walsh on December 29th 2017

Dear Friends:

After more than a decade of delays, the logjam finally broke in 2017. Because of our work and because of your support, the widespread disregard of New Jersey’s fair housing laws has ended.

Will you help us celebrate with an end-of-year gift?

In 2017, municipalities committed to providing, and provided zoning and funding to allow, tens of thousands of homes for lower-income families and people with disabilities. Families are finally getting opportunities denied to them by municipalities that got away with discrimination; and non-profit and for-profit developers are building homes, including many that are strengthening New Jersey’s downtowns near transit, from Woodbridge to Westmont. Lower-income households are beginning to apply for homes that will make their rents and mortgages affordable – we are seeing the settlements we have reached translate already into construction in places like Plainsboro, Clinton Township, and Westfield. We have not seen this level of expansion of opportunity in New Jersey in decades, if ever.

Fair Share Housing Center was busier and more effective in 2017 than at any point in our 42-year history. We began the year with a big win when the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously held that the “gap period” need for affordable homes must be satisfied.

We continued to push municipalities to meet their fair share obligations by participating in more than 300 court cases. We have settled with more than 170 of those municipalities and are in the process of defending those settlements in court. We have seen more success through the ongoing court-administered enforcement of the Mount Laurel doctrine than through anything the Council on Affordable Housing did in the past two decades.

In a 40-day trial in Trenton, we challenged claims by wealthy municipalities that seek to exclude by pretending the need for affordable homes does not exist. We were joined in court by civil rights leaders, people with special needs, housing advocates, and religious leaders who came to testify through their presence. We await the judge’s decision and are hopeful it will recognize the extent of the housing need in our state and the importance of promoting racial integration in one of the nation’s most segregated states.

As 2017 draws to a close, we also mark the end of Governor Christie’s efforts to undermine our fair housing laws. We survived the Christie Administration’s eight-year effort by challenging it at every turn and making persuasive arguments before New Jersey’s independent judiciary. We blocked the governor from taking control of the Council on Affordable Housing; blocked the governor’s reorganization plan; blocked the governor’s attempt to seize $160 million in affordable housing trust funds; and exposed the governor’s proposed legislation as a scam that would result in no affordable homes. We also, along with the NJ NAACP and Latino Action Network, reached the largest settlement in the entire nation in the 50-year history of the federal Fair Housing Act. The settlement reallocated over a half-billion dollars to lower-income communities and communities of color impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

With your help, 2018 promises to be another year in which we make New Jersey fairer, more affordable, and more racially and economically inclusive.

But taking on hundreds of municipalities to make sure they create opportunities for working families, people with disabilities, and lower-income seniors is not an easy or inexpensive task. We need your support. Please send a gift today so we can continue our work in 2018.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Kevin

 

http://fairsharehousing.org/blog/entry/2017-accomplishments-and-forward-to-2018/

Baby boomers, like millennials, are flocking to rentals offering a ‘hands-free’ lifestyle

November 28, 2017

Source: Ollie

Russ Chung once lived in a sizable Midwest home, but he recently downsized to a luxury one-bedroom rental in Midtown Manhattan just blocks from Central Park.

Now, rather than mowing a lawn, the 60-year-old higher education administrator spends his free time visiting museums and taking in New York’s other cultural offerings.

“As you get older, there are only so many things you want to concentrate on. Apartment life lets you focus on things that matter and get rid of stuff that takes up a lot of time,” said Chung. His building’s concierge signs for his packages, and arranges for housecleaning.

Chung is one example of a subset of baby boomers who have become the fastest-growing group of renters across the nation. Since they tend to have more money to spend than their millennial counterparts, developers are actively figuring out how to lure them to into one of the luxury buildings sprouting up across the city.

Both boomers and millennials are flocking to areas like downtown Brooklyn, where a flurry of new full-services high-rises are springing up — and they sometimes compete over units, Citi Habitats agent Jason Burke told CNBC.

According to Burke, even though there is a glut of these new apartments, there is only a limited number in certain price ranges. Most people want to get in first when the developers are offering the best discounts, he said.

“The boomers are the biggest demographic that can afford it,” he said. “But tech levels everything. We’re seeing a lot of engineers come to New York, a lot of people in tech who don’t work from an office.”

“A lot of millennials are moving into brand-new rentals, and a lot of boomers are saying ‘That’s what’s I like too.'” -Phillip Salem, Triplemint

‘We chill, it’s a community’

Between 2009 and 2015, the number of renters aged 55 or above rose 28 percent, while those aged 34 or younger only increased 3 percent, according to Census data recently crunched by search engine RentCafe.

Meanwhile, more than 5 million baby boomers across the nation are expected to rent their next home by 2020, according to a 2016 analysis from Freddie Mac. Some boomers want to stay close to the neighborhoods they have lived in for decades; others are following their children to cities, experts said.

Like millennials, many boomers want amenity-rich apartments in good neighborhoods.

“You would think they would be buying and investing in property, but a lot of people like the convenience and ease of renting,” said Phillip Salem, an agent at real estate brokerage firm Triplemint.

“A lot of millennials are moving into brand-new rentals, and a lot of boomers are saying ‘That’s what’s I like too,'” he added.

Salem’s own Manhattan high-rise — with a gym, yoga studio and three outdoor lounges — is comprised of about 70 percent millennials and 30 percent baby boomers, the 30-year-old estimated.

“When I’m on the roof deck grilling, there are a lot of baby boomers,” Salem said. “They come and sit with us. We chill. It’s a community.”

Source: Ollie

Chris Bledsoe, co-founder of the national co-living brand Ollie, told CNBC that boomers account for one out of every four email inquiries.

Ollie offers an all-inclusive living experience in micro-unit studio apartments (under 400 square feet), or micro-suites where renters have private bedrooms while sharing kitchens, bathrooms and other common spaces. Roughly 80 percent of tenants in Ollie buildings are in their 20s and 30s, but just under 20 percent are over the age of 50 — and about a third of those are in their 60s, Bledsoe said.

In fact, Ollie renters only need to bring their toothbrushes. The units come with modern multipurpose furniture to make the most of small living spaces. A butler service called Hello Alfred sends home managers to pay weekly visits to water plants and make beds, while each building organizes social events like ski trips, whitewater river rafting and guacamole-making contests.

“I say millennial is a mindset not an age group,” he said. “Boomers are seeking something urban. They want cultural vibrancy, the theater. They want to be close to where their kids and grandkids are.”

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

A sign advertises an apartment for rent along a row of brownstone townhouses on June 24, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Zach Ehrlich, of New York-based brokerage Mdrn. Residential, recently launched a concierge-like rental service called Stoop that offers short-term leases. It’s attracting interest among boomers looking for a “hands-free lifestyle” and to sample living in new places.

“There are a lot of seniors finding they want to have more flexibility,” Ehrlich said. “They also want to have some sociability, whether they lost a spouse or are separated or just don’t have a family unit.”

Wendy Sanders, a Long Island, New York-based broker with Douglas Elliman, said that downsizing boomers often sacrifice space to live in something that’s brand new.

“They’re looking for maintenance-free living. When the toilet overflows, they want someone to take care of it,” she said.

For Chung, whose job brought him to New York this spring while his wife spends more of her time in their 2,500-square-foot home in Ohio, it is important that he feels well cared for — yet not part of a senior residence, he said.

“As I’m getting older I’m stressed about this: If I fall down and hurt myself here, what do I need to do?” said Chung. “Why am I even worried? I’m going to pick up the phone and call the front desk. I just have to get to the phone.”

 

Apartment dwellers seek affordable rents

November 27, 2017

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/apartment-dwellers-seek-affordable-rents/article_84ecea80-7778-5356-9d12-878feec7ac05.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Apartment dwellers seek affordable rents

  • Atlantic City mother sacrifices to make rent

Atlantic City mother sacrifices to make rent
Press of Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY — Toni Wilson, the mother of four children ranging in age from 15 to 3, moved from Egg Harbor Township to Atlantic City to save $100 on her monthly rent.

Working part-time as a cocktail waitress at the Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino, Wilson, 39, was paying $1,300 for a three-bedroom, one-bath ranch-style home that was at least 40 years old and needed repairs. She also had to pay the water bill.

Wilson, who was married previously, moved to the Inlet section of the city to an apartment where she pays $1,200, but gas, electricity and water are included. She has three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms, a kitchen, a small backyard and a garage.

“They did not want to move at all,” Wilson said of her children. “She (daughter Amirah Elliott, 15) was on the cheerleading team at Egg Harbor Township. They hadn’t lived in Atlantic City for five years. City life is different.”

Wilson is one of many South Jersey residents who live in an apartment with a family and struggle to pay the market rate for rent.

Without financial assistance from her father and her boyfriend, Wilson said, she did not know how she would be able to survive.

“Sometimes, internet is off. Sometimes, cable is off,” said Wilson, who added she learned from her mother that rent and transportation must be paid. “I juggle the rest of the stuff all month.”

 

The need for apartments — due to delayed marriages, an aging population and immigration — is creating more demand at a faster rate than new apartments are being built, so those that do exist are more expensive.

For years, rent growth has outpaced wage growth, and a severe lack of affordable housing affects many parts of the country.

The number of households that spend more than half their income on rent has grown about 25 percent since 2007 and are considered “severely cost-burdened,” according to an analysis by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

The rental market has exploded, said Robert M. Shamberg, owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Diversified Realty in Galloway Township.

“The rental market is as hot as the for-sale market was back in 2005-06. There are 100 people looking for every single rental,” Shamberg said.

Landlords are demanding as much as $900 per month for a one-bedroom condo, $1,200 per month or more for two bedrooms, and $1,500 per month or more for a single-family home, depending on the size, Shamberg said.

Shamberg said there have always been people who rented apartments as opposed to buying a house because they didn’t want the responsibility, didn’t understand the value of owning a home or weren’t ready for the responsibility. Others wanted the flexibility of being able to move.

But since the recession, an increasing number of people have been tagged with a bad credit history, don’t have the money to buy or have lost their previous home due to foreclosure and can’t buy, Shamberg said.

Rising rents are an extreme problem, and many people are struggling, said Matt Shapiro, president of the New Jersey Tenants Organization, based in Fort Lee, Bergen County.

“Low and moderate incomes can’t afford today’s rents, which are astronomical and unbelievably high,” said Shapiro, whose organization is the oldest and largest such statewide organization in the country.

 

Rent control is an answer, but it is not the answer, Shapiro said.

Even if a landlord raises the rent 4 percent annually, inflation has been as little as 2 percent, so the landlord will make a profit, Shapiro said.

Good rent-control legislation should allow the landlord or owner to set a profit level that could be maintained.

 

“Instead, in some city markets, landlords are doing extraordinarily well,” Shapiro said. “Mortgage interest costs have been slashed. They (owners) could afford to do rent control and still make good money.”

Rent control is part of the problem in some communities because rent control laws allow landlords to charge whatever they want once a unit is vacated, said Jeff Cronrod, a board member of the American Apartment Owners Association, based in California.

“We have the end of the middle class, which is fairly topical, and that’s really what this is about, and you have the haves and the have-nots. The separation is bigger than ever,” Cronrod said.

One thing landlords in his association are starting to do is adopt what’s called RentGuard, which allows the landlord to eliminate or reduce the money needed for a security deposit, which at least makes the apartment more affordable to move into initially.

In the meantime, Wilson will be doing the best she can, making payment arrangements and providing a little less food sometimes if necessary. She has not experienced a winter in her new place, so she doesn’t know how high her gas bill will be.

“For single mothers and young families to enjoy their children at times, it’s hard,” Wilson said. “They can’t work to save. They can’t work to take a vacation. They work to pay bills and utilities.”

The Biggest Game Changers in Renting Are Older, Highly-Educated Renters, and 2.5 Million Stronger

October 30, 2017

The Biggest Game Changers in Renting Are Older, Highly-Educated Renters, and 2.5 Million Stronger

October 17, 2017
8 Min Read
Baby boomer renters suburban apartments for rent RentCafe

Have you noticed how different renting is today from one or two decades ago? I think most of us would agree that renters were usually people in their 20s, renting mostly bare-bones dingy apartments with stinky carpeting and peeling windows in poorly-maintained old buildings until they saved enough to buy a place of their own. With some exceptions, this was the profile of the typical renter until recently.

But the newest trends in apartment development are suddenly attracting a new kind of renter. This renter is interested to live in a place that offers a convenient, quality lifestyle, a comfortable living space, a place to exercise, and a place to socialize all-in-one. We were very interested to find out who exactly are these new renters and what motivates them to rent instead of buy.

3 big ways in which the U.S. renter profile has changed

We turned to U.S. Census data to see if it can shed some light on how renting has evolved since 2009 — around the time when the scales started tilting in favor of renting. We looked at changes in the number of renter households by age, education level, and family type.

National stats revealed that, between 2009 and 2015, the biggest changes in the renting population came from seniors aged 55 or over (up by 28%), compared to only a 3% increase in renters 34 or younger. By education, the highest increases were in renters holding a bachelor degree or higher (up by 23%), and by family type, in families with no minor children (up by 21%).

What do these three categories have in common? They all point to one group: empty-nest Baby-Boomers. Whether driven by a change in lifestyle, a consequence of the housing crash, or an inability to find affordable homes to downsize, senior households are embracing renting in droves.

https://e.infogram.com/2974fe7f-d0c9-4629-bc62-bd3ac5d20841?src=embed

Seniors are the new kids on the block in the rental market

Senior renters not only account for the largest percentage increases but also the largest net increases compared to other age groups. About 2.5 million senior households joined the renter cohort nationwide between 2009 and 2015, while the number of renter households aged 35-54 added 1.95 million, and those younger than 34 increased by only 0.5 million in the same time frame.

https://e.infogram.com/4dd6f45d-7ebe-4088-a641-3a032c791f39?src=embed

About 2.5 million senior households joined the renter cohort nationwide between 2009 and 2015 Click To Tweet

American suburbs win over more new renters than cities

  • Older renters — by 39% in the suburbs and by 21% in cities
  • Highly-educated renters — by 26% in the suburbs and by 20% in cities
  • Renting families with no children — by 33% in suburbs and by 16% in cities

https://e.infogram.com/d2cff5a1-65dd-4cb8-bebf-7fca80ac5eef?src=embed

A hefty 39% more renters over 55 years old live in the suburbs compared to 2009 and 21% more in the cities. Comprised mostly of Baby Boomers, this generation has lived a big part of its life in the suburbs, essentially being responsible for the launch and prosperity of the consumer suburb. Owning a home and raising a family in a suburban community truly defined this age group. Now it finds itself in a big empty house, with too much space to keep up and high property taxes to pay.

“Lowering living expenses, looking for a different lifestyle, less house-related work and overall less responsibility can be achieved by downsizing, so a lot of retirees opt to rent.” says Simona Solomie, a real estate broker with Remax Masters of Morton Grove, Illinois, who works with home sellers, buyers, and renters in the western and northwestern suburbs of Chicago.

Baby boomers also account for the highest increase in renters in urban areas, but the spike in numbers is much higher in the suburbs (21% vs 39%). The second highest increase comes from renters aged 35-54, 27% in the suburbs and 8% in the city.

Renter age groups in the top 20 largest metros: Riverside, Tampa, and Phoenix most Baby-Boomer-friendly

In all 20 largest U.S. metros studied, without exception, the rate of increase in senior renters greatly surpasses that of younger renters (see the green bars on the graph below).

Between 2009 and 2015, the senior renter population has grown the fastest in the metro area of Riverside, CA  (by 63%), followed by metro Tampa, FL by (61%) and by metro Phoenix, AZ (by 59%). However, the largest net increases were in Los Angeles metro (which gained 134,000 new senior renter-occupied households and lost 26,000 renter households under 34 years of age). New York City gained an additional 124,000 renter households over 55 during this time period and about 54,000 under 34.

https://e.infogram.com/8bef7f65-c296-49e2-9b26-5d52fdd8fe79?src=embed

Both suburbs and cities see a surge in highly-educated renters

If there was any doubt left that some people actually choose to rent, even though they could afford to buy, the latest surge in the number of highly-educated renters should help erase those doubts. Of all education levels, those holding a bachelor degree or higher account for the largest share of new renters added between 2009 and 2015 in both suburban and urban areas, percentage-wise and in net numbers. The number of renters who hold a bachelor degree or higher increased by 26% in the suburbs and by 20% in the cities.

The second highest increase in renters comes from people with some college education or equivalent (a 19% increase in suburban areas and 12% in urban areas), while those with a high-school diploma or less accounted for the smallest increase.

Phoenix and Denver attract highest-educated renters

The national trend is confirmed at the metro level. In all 20 largest U.S. metros, except St. Louis, MO, the largest gains of new renters were people holding a bachelor degree or higher (green bars on the graph below). In Phoenix metro, renters with a bachelor degree increased by 48%, in Denver metro by 45%, in Tampa, FL metro by 38%, and in Atlanta metro by 37%. At the same time, the number of least-educated renters is decreasing in several metro areas, including Denver, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

https://e.infogram.com/24e26728-2341-41a0-a5e0-2f492c4453dd?src=embed

More families (with and without children) rent in the suburbs

Looking at family types, renting households with no children saw the biggest jump (up 33% in the suburbs and 16% in the city). This category includes either couples or single householders with no children present in the household. (Baby-Boomer empty-nesters fall into this category.)

The number of renter families with children also grew significantly, by 29% in suburban areas, but only by 8% in urban areas — no surprise there, considering that most families with kids prefer the suburbs.

Suburban DC is most sought-after by renting families with children

In suburban Tampa, FL renting family households with no children increased the most (by 74%), while suburban Washington, DC is the most popular for renting families with children, which increased by 83%. The increases are much lower in urban areas. The most significant increase in the number of renters was in urban Seattle, WA where the number of families with no kids is up by 36%.

https://e.infogram.com/6680fa2c-f3e3-4598-b528-d64a64556b32?src=embed

Renting in the suburbs has gained popularity with all types of renters

Now that the lure of apartment living has spread into the American suburb, renters who want to live in a walkable neighborhood and have a short commute to work can get what they’re looking for thanks to the emergence of the “suburban downtown” and to a concept known as “transit-oriented development.” A great example is Elmhurst 255 in suburban Elmhurst, Illinois, self-described as a “new luxury apartment community in the heart of downtown Elmhurst, within walking distance of grocery stores, the Metra, shopping, theater, museums, restaurants, and nightlife.” For those not from Chicago, the Metra is the train system that connects the suburbs of Chicago to The Loop, Chicago’s business district.

Apartment community in downtown suburban Elmhurst, Illinois – Image via RentCafe

This is exactly the type of suburban new rental community that appeals to both young and old. With such attractive (and often cheaper) housing alternatives right in their community, the decision to switch to renting has gotten much easier for suburban homeowners.

In each of the categories of renters we analyzed suburban areas were gaining renters faster than urban areas. Suburban renting has become so common and so popular, that real estate agents now specialize in leasing, which was certainly not the case 10-15 years ago when hardly anyone used an agent to find an apartment for rent.

“From my experience renting in the suburbs is preferred because – one: renting in the suburbs is less expensive than renting in the city, and two: the suburban lifestyle has changed so much in the past ten, fifteen years for a lot of suburbs, it has become vibrant and full of life with close-by shopping, restaurants, entertainment, fine parks, and transportation.” added Solomie.

Methodology:

  • Tenure of occupied housing units, age groups, education attainment, and household types were obtained from Census ACS 5-year estimates for 2009-2015. 
  • Census Places and Metro Areas obtained from Census Tiger Files. We considered “suburbs” Census Places that are not principal cities. We did not include rural and unincorporated areas.