EL PASO, TX - The state has awarded more than $3 million to help ease an affordable housing shortage that officials say affects more than 22,000 households in the El Paso region. The grant includes money for the development of three apartment buildings, including 352 units, and more than $550,000 to help first-time homebuyers.
"The current housing market is quickly pushing rents beyond what many Texans can afford, undermining families and communities alike," said Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Executive Director Michael Gerber. "Our goal is to provide attractive, high quality housing with an affordable rent while offering tenants the long-term benefits of a stable, secure home life. The added bonus of these awards will be additional construction jobs and a significant infusion of payroll funds into the area's economy.
The announcement of the award came Thursday as the office of state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh released a report titled "Texas Borderlands 2009: Housing Challenges Along the Border," which details a number of hardships unique to the border region. "Our community is short 30,000 affordable housing units," Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said in a statement. "We welcome vigorous investment in affordable homes so that every El Paso family can realize the American dream."
Incomes have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing as the already scarce supply of smaller, less-costly housing shrinks, particularly among two- to four-unit apartment buildings. Affordable housing for lower-income residents becomes even more difficult to provide as property costs rise and restrictive regulations stymie high-density development, the report said.
In 2005, 78 percent of the households that paid more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs were low-income households, according to the report. The state housing department estimates 22,150 households in the six county El Paso region need affordable housing. "When 30 percent, 40 percent or more of a household's paycheck goes toward paying the rent, many of the family's other needs are simply not going to be met," Gerber said. About $2.3 million of the award will go to finance the development of three rental properties, including the Tres Palmas and Suncrest Apartments in El Paso and the San Elizario Palms.
El Paso Affordable Housing, a nonprofit corporation formed by credit unions to help homebuyers, has received a $550,000 grant that will provide 55 first-time homebuyers with either 6 percent of the home purchase price or $10,000 for their down payment and closing costs. The program is designed to help households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median family income. For El Paso County, this equals an annual income of $34,900 for a family for four.
"This award will greatly assist 55 families in our housing programs to qualify for their first home and begin their journey to achieve financial stability and develop family financial assets," said Larry Garcia, president and chief executive officer of El Paso Affordable Housing.
Source: ElPasoTimes.com