Charleston’s reputation for hospitality and tourism draws visitors and also high-dollar real estate ventures from across the globe.
But as space dwindles and square footage prices rise, locals and lower-income residents are left at risk of being priced out of the Lowcountry economy.
Monitoring the Charleston region’s housing situation are three housing authorities: the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, the Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the North Charleston Housing Authority.
What does housing look like in Charleston County?
Since 2000, Charleston’s population has grown 50%, a number that really hasn’t been met with corresponding infrastructure upgrades. When so many people are moving into the area in a relatively short period of time, the demand for necessities like new roads, housing and jobs rise quicker than they can be produced, experts say.
Money managers often suggest renters spend about 30% of their monthly income on housing, which is $1,991 at fair market average in Charleston County, according to an infographic by the Charleston housing authorities. But the average rent in Charleston is $2,771, roughly 56.9% of the average monthly salary.
The population and average rent are not the only factors pushing more people into affordable housing qualification.
“The increased cost of ownership and property taxes are placing financial pressure on current and potential landlords. Many of whom are responding by increasing rents,” Quiana Abney, North Charleston Housing Authority executive director, said in an email. “This, combined with the growing gap between household incomes and the overall cost of living, makes it difficult for working families to secure and maintain stable housing.”
Through the three Charleston housing authorities, there are about 4,200 affordable housing properties for a population of 424,367 . According to the infographic, the county has almost 2,000 people on awaiting list to receive housing aid.
Nonprofits and government agencies can’t keep up with demand and pricing
Metanoia, a nonprofit housing developer in North Charleston, has spent the past 20 years building, renovating and repairing homes for affordable rates. Most homes the nonprofit develops are single-family detached homes, as well as one apartment complex with eight units.
Bill Stanfield, founder and CEO of Metanoia, said Metanoia struggles with constraints on density combined with the influx of people moving into Charleston.
“Groups like us can do some things to help a little bit,” Stanfield said. “We are building more than we have built before, but we are not even scratching the surface of what’s needed in the region, which is units in the thousands rather than the tens.”
Stanfield said if you go back 30 years , affordable housing was for people living on a much lower economic spectrum. As prices rise, more people find themselves in the affordable housing bracket.
“There was more of a perception of affordable housing or attainable housing being for folks who were vulnerable,” Stanfield said. “But I think that’s going away because when the median house price in Charleston County is over a half million dollars, a lot of people are recognizing, ‘Oh, I never thought of myself as an affordable or attainable home buyer, but I guess I am.’”
In addition to Metanoia, close to 30 nonprofits in Charleston County are dedicated to supporting affordable housing.
The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, recently implemented the Small Area Fair Market Rents program intended to help housing authorities in metropolitan and rural areas better assist their communities, Abney said in an email.
While Lowcountry areas like Summerville and downtown Charleston benefitted from the program, Abney said North Charleston, which has 40% of the county’s affordable housing stock, saw a decrease in the payment standards it can offer for each applicant.
From local government, Charleston County has four options of housing aid: the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Rental Assistance Demonstration, Public Housing, and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, according to the infographic.
Charleston has also announced upcoming renovation projects to include affordable and attainable housing options over the next few years such as Union Pier in downtown Charleston and Navy Yard in North Charleston.
For Arthur Milligan, president and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, the diversity and economic variety of people in a neighborhood are part of the key to its success.
“What we’re seeing is that successful neighborhoods tend to have people that are doing different things, different incomes, different jobs, and so forth. It makes a community,” Milligan said. “When you have everybody doing the same thing and living the same way in one place, that sometimes becomes a problem.”
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