1 in 5 people have had to cut household spending in order to make rent
Going into 2016, rents in Boston were the No. 4 most expensive in the country, falling behind San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C. For those that are trying to buy, prices have gone up too — from 2010 to 2015, the median home value in Boston increased 37.1 percent, a recent Zillow report found.
Nationally, between December 2014 and December 2015, average rents increased 3.6 percent for one-bedroom apartments and 2.6 percent for two-bedroom units, according to the rental site Apartment List.
Given these increases, it might not be surprising that a new survey on housing affordability found 21 percent of Americans answered “yes” when asked if they had ever been unable to pay their rent or mortgage, or if they had ever been forced to cut down spending in other areas to afford their rents. The survey, which polled about 1,000 Americans 18 years and older, was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of MakeRoom.
Of the people struggling to pay for their housing, 57 percent said they were forced to cut down on the amount they spent on groceries. 54 percent said they cut down on clothing, 43 percent said they cut down on other household expenses, 33 percent said they cut down on travel, and 31 percent said they cut down on credit card debt.
One quarter of respondents said they have even moved in the past five years because of rents or mortgages being too high.
CityLab noted that the survey implies there are broader concerns then just these cutbacks:
“For example, respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘Leaders of our community should work to create and preserve safe and affordable homes for all.’ Some 75 percent of respondents ‘strongly agree’ or ‘somewhat agree’ to that sentiment.”
65 percent of people surveyed said there should be fees on new developments to help fund homes for people with lower incomes, something that’s already occurring in Boston.
Last December, in an executive order, Mayor Marty Walsh required developers in hot neighborhoods to pay almost double the previous fees toward providing affordable housing for other neighborhoods.
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