By India Gardener / Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Rising housing costs are creating significant challenges for Ohioans seeking affordable homes - especially those with the lowest incomes.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), to afford a two-bedroom home in Ohio without spending more than 30% of your income on rent, you will need an annual household income of $39,702.

Ohio's median household income was $67,520 in 2022, according to U.S. Census data. But even in a relatively affordable state, households whose incomes are at or below the poverty guideline-$15,225 for a single person under 65 or $29,678 for a family of four-face significant challenges in finding housing they can afford.

In Ohio, 67% of extremely low-income residents - those making just 30% of the area median income - are spending more than half of their income on rent, according to NLIHC.

"Over 700,000 renters are spending over half their income on rent, and, when you're spending that much of your income on rent, there's very little left over for the other necessities of life - food, transportation, education, healthcare, childcare - all of those things suffer," said Marcus Roth, communications/development director with the Coalition of Homelessness and Housing. This statewide coalition advocates for affordable housing.

The 2021 Ohio Housing Needs Assessment states there was a shortage of over 256,875 affordable rental units for extremely low-income (ELI) households across the state in 2018. This translated to a meager 44 available units for every 100 of these households.

Considering inflation, the median gross rent in Ohio increased by 9% from $733 to $797 per month from 2012 to 2018. The highest earners' incomes have outpaced this rise in rent since 2006, but those in the lowest 20 percent of income earners since 2008 have not. They are at heightened risk for housing cost burdens and instability.

"The main thing we need to do is increase the supply of affordable housing," Roth said. "We have a huge shortage of affordable housing. It's just grown worse and worse over the last 10 to 15 years."

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency's research highlights a significant decline in authorized new housing units - all housing units, not just affordable ones - for construction since 2000. In 2022, only 30,936 housing units were authorized, down from 49,745 in 2000.

"We have not had enough affordable housing for a very, very long time. But one of the novel things about what we're seeing is that that instability is creeping up the economic ladder," said Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. "And it's not just minimum wage earners who are feeling the pinch. It's not just retirees who are feeling the pinch, but now it's folks who are working 40 hours a week in a very respectable profession."

Limited housing availability, combined with rising construction costs, has created a shortage of affordable housing options.

According to the Ohio Finance Housing Agency Fiscal Year

"We're in an atypical moment in history where we are just not building enough homes for all of the people who live here," said Boos. "We're getting more and more and more people, especially in Central Ohio, where we're going to grow by another million people in the coming years."

Boos discussed the housing crisis in Ohio and how it requires a multifaceted approach that includes increasing the supply of affordable housing, providing financial assistance to low-income renters, and regulating the rental market.

"There's a lot of different tools that we can start making work for us. One of the things that I think Central Ohio has really been aggressive on... well, it's housing bonds," Boos said. Housing bonds are issued by governments at the state and local levels to help raise money for new affordable housing projects.

"Last November, the city of Columbus put a ballot measure up for a vote that passed super-majority-style," Boos said. "With $200 million and new resources to support affordable housing and start to bring those rents and those home ownership costs down... We had a $50 million pilot before that was overwhelmingly successful. So we know that this is going to have a huge impact."

Exploring financing methods, such as public-private partnerships and social impact bonds, can further tap into private-sector investments for affordable housing development. These include the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME).

Roth said the most recent Ohio state budget created a state version of the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.

"It is about $100 million of additional state resources that will go toward the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing. So that is a great first step," Roth said. "It'll create 4,000 additional units of affordable housing."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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Orange County's Supreme Court reversed a decision letting the city of Newburgh implement state tenant protections.

The city declared a housing emergency in 2023 when a study showed a vacancy rate less than 4%. The lawsuit overturning the protections found that the study was flawed, leading the court to invalidate it.

Daniel Atonna, political coordinator for the group For the Many, said this leaves tenants in a precarious position.

"This rips away protections for tenants in over 730 apartments in the city of Newburgh," he said, "at a time when tenants all across the Hudson Valley, all across New York, are facing difficult conditions as landlords are trying to evict them and raise their rent."

The petitioner's attorney said if unchecked, the city's actions would have made drastic changes to the rental market without legal basis.

This ruling also keeps Newburgh from setting up a rent guidelines board to decide whether rent-stabilized tenants' rents should stay the same, increase or decrease. Atonna said he hopes the city redoes the survey and implements these protections.

Atonna thinks Newburgh should opt into the newly passed Good Cause Eviction protections. This could better protect tenants, although some housing advocates feel these protections are ineffective. He said many residents support having tenant protections.

"Because it's meant stabilization for the community, right? It means a strong community where their neighbors aren't getting uprooted and evicted every couple of years," he said. "So, this was something that was going to be good for everyone."

A 2021 survey found 77% of Newburgh residents would leave the city because of high rents. It also found that people spend more than 30% of their income on rent.


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The Supreme Court case Grants Pass v. Gloria Johnson could upend homeless populations in Connecticut and nationwide.

The case centers around whether municipalities can fine or ticket people for sleeping outside when there is no shelter available. Connecticut had an eight-year decline in homelessness, but the last two Point-in-Time snapshots indicated it is rising again.

Sarah Fox, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, said ticketing and fining homeless people only harms them.

"It in fact prolongs their experience of homelessness," Fox asserted. "Once someone is engaged with the criminal legal system, it impacts and affects every other part of their life and their world."

She argued the state needs to work proactively to reduce homelessness, such as tackling the affordable-housing crisis. Connecticut has a shortage of more than 98,000 affordable rental homes. Fox suggested an interagency council on homelessness can ensure homeless people have better access to services and emphasized more funding will create a more effective system for sheltering homeless people.

Homelessness has risen 6% nationally since 2017.

Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said affordable housing and services are key to ending homelessness. She stressed along with state- and local-level work, federal investments can help squelch rising homelessness.

"Investments by Congress in housing affordability, that means rental assistance for everybody who is eligible for rental assistance," Oliva stressed. "Right now, only one out of every four households that's eligible for federal rental assistance can get it because of funding challenges."

Based on the Supreme Court's ruling, she feels ordinances criminalizing homelessness could increase. Even so, Oliva added all three levels of government should be aware of actual solutions to curb homelessness.


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Residents in a rural North Carolina town grappling with economic challenges are getting a pathway to homeownership.

In Enfield, the average annual income is about $25,000, while the average home price in the state exceeds $300,000. The significant gap between income and housing costs makes homeownership unattainable for many residents.

Mondale Robinson, mayor of Enfield, said it is an issue with which he is all too familiar, having grown up in the town. He acknowledged the dire housing conditions faced by many residents.

"Housing there is third-world," Robinson asserted. "And I know that term is not politically correct, but I use it intentionally to remind people that while we may be in the so-called richest country in the world, my people are suffering from houses that are killing them."

He pointed out many people in the town are living things like severe mold or failing foundations. Recognizing the challenges posed by limited resources both on a town and federal level, Robinson explained he is tackling the issue by forming partnerships with construction firms and lending institutions. He noted through the Horizon Project, they aim to build energy-efficient homes priced affordably at about $105,000.

Robinson highlighted historically, the majority of Black residents there have been marginalized from experiencing positive changes in their neighborhoods. He explained previous investments focused on constructing homes that were unaffordable for the community. Robinson expressed optimism the initiative will serve as a foundation for achieving long-term equality and stability.

"We had a qualification seminar where we brought people in to see if they qualify for homes," Robinson recounted. "Of those 400 people that showed up, 174 already prequalified and have already started ordering their model homes and on the process to become homeowners."

He added families who qualify will receive smart homes with two to four bedrooms, an opportunity most people living on an hourly wage in the town would not have had access to.

In addition to the housing aspect of the project, Robinson emphasized the importance of economic development and sustainability. He said they will offer training to help new homeowners maintain their property.

He stressed another major part of the Horizon project is meant to help promote growth in the town and return ownership to the people who live there.

"When all of these new houses pop up in this rural space, we know what's to follow, businesses to follow," Robinson projected. "Also, we're looking for the mental victory that folk feel when they've purchased a home, alleviating the fact that you have a landlord that is not concerned with how your health is affected by the house you're living in."

By addressing housing affordability and promoting economic empowerment, Robinson hopes the Horizon Project will serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives across North Carolina and beyond. Qualified families will move into new homes by June, while ongoing support aims to assist others in future qualification.


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