NEW YORK, NY - New York City's immigrant population is having a harder time than ever finding affordable housing, according to a new report. Foreign-born New Yorkers, who make up more than a third of the city's population, are most likely to pay higher portions of their income for rent and least likely to receive support from the city's subsidized housing programs, according to "Confronting the Housing Squeeze," a report released Wednesday. The Pratt Center for Community Development produced the report in conjunction with the New York Immigration Coalition.
About 56% of city immigrants put more than 30% of their income toward rental costs, compared with 47% for native-born New Yorkers, according to the report, which is based on surveys of 541 foreign-born city residents in neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of immigrants. Nearly a third of immigrants pay more than 50% of their income toward rent, compared with 25% for native-born New Yorkers.
Immigrants in the city are also three times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions than native-born New Yorkers, according to the report. Although much of the report's data predates more recent deterioration in the housing market, the stalled economy has only exacerbated immigrants' problems, said Brad Lander, director of the Pratt Center and author of the report. "Although we didn't look at this, the geography of foreclosures in New York City matches the geography of immigrations," he said.
Among the issues outlined in the report is so-called "predatory equity," whereby private equity investors buy up affordable housing units at inflated prices, with the intention of recouping investments through rental income. But regulations limiting rent hikes, as well as the deteriorating real estate market, have left many investors without adequate rental income, which pushes buildings toward foreclosure and puts their tenants at risk. Often located in low-income areas, these foreclosures could have a particularly adverse effect on the city's immigrant population, Mr. Lander said.
Those sentiments echo findings from the Community Service Society of New York, which in an October survey said predatory equity has played a major role in the city's deteriorating supply of affordable units. According to that report, the city lost nearly 3,700 units of affordable housing last year, or 4% of the stock available at the start of 2007.
Still, the city remains upbeat. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace Plan calls for the creation or preservation of 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2013. He recently said the plan had reached its halfway point, with more than 82,500 units financed.
Source: CrainsNewYork.com