Real estate
BY SHAHERYAR KHAN
‘The rent eats first’: Most Houston renters face cost burdens
YOUR BUSINESS HAS A story of renters experienced housing cost burdens. Additionally, Harris Central Appraisal District’s grading system that assesses the physical condi- tion of rental structures relative to age found that housing conditions were worrisome as of 2021. Nearly 1 in 5 rental structures in Harris County received a “below average” grade, per the report. Approximately 25% of single-family homes in Harris County were rentals in 2021. Among the As rent prices in Harris County have outpaced median household income, the majority of renters are finding themselves burdened by housing costs, according to a July 25 report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. The specifics As of 2021, a majority of renter households were spending over 30% of their household income on housing, which researchers said indicates they faced housing cost burdens. When factoring in household size and essential costs, more than 60%
Cost-burdened breakdown Researchers found the majority of Hispanic and Black renters in Harris County, as well as renter households with children, spend more than 30% of their household income on housing.
PERCENTAGE OF RENTER HOUSEHOLDS THAT ARE COST-BURDENED By race/ethnicity By household type
Hispanic
Single-parent household
Two-parent household
Single-person household
74.7%
Black
66.2%
Asian
82.2%
72.9% 55.4%
38%
White
36.2%
SOURCE: KINDER INSTITUTE OF URBAN RESEARCH/COMMUNITY IMPACT
1.1 million single-family rental homes, 10,385 were owned by a small group of multistate corporate investors, and 38,703 were owned by other corpo- rate entities, the report states. Diving in deeper Stating in the report that “the rent eats first,” researchers said rental affordability is not only a factor of the monthly rent costs but also the living costs for the people in that household.
The data shows rent burdens impact households with children more significantly. About 82% of single-parent households and 73% of two-parent households with children are cost-burdened. Increases in rent often result in reduced spending on essential needs, such as healthy food, medical care and child care. Additionally, in car-dependent cities such as Houston, transporta- tion costs can be comparable to housing expenses, researchers said.
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