A statewide LWV committee has studied the crisis in Virginia in affordable housing and related issues of poverty and wages. The full report and slides from a powerpoint summary are available.

Lead study author, Alice Tousignant, will address our League about the study and roles for the League at our First Tuesday meeting on August 4.

Highlights of the study

• Five Virginia cities, including Richmond, are among the 10 in the US with the highest eviction rates.
• Low-income Virginians are housing "cost-burdened," meaning they pay more than 30% of income for housing; 70% are "severely-cost burdened," paying more than 50% of income for housing.
• Affordable rental units are not available. For every 100 extremely-low-income renter households in Virginia, only 36 rental units are currently affordable and available.
• A minimum wage earner ($7.25/hour) needs to work 109 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment in Virginia.
• Virginia could provide resources and enact legislation to increase the supply of affordable housing and to reduce evictions.