Housing

My family lives in a two-bedroom home in Salt Lake City. Our mortgage and utilities are not far above “fair market rent” (or FMR) which is generally the median cost of rent and utilities for the community (in 2008 it was $754 in Salt Lake and $703 averages throughout Utah for two-bedrooms). The housing rule of thumb is that the rents should be no more than 30 percent of household income. (The term “rents” can be a complicated term for owners, including mortgage interest deductions, maintenance, capital gains exemptions and more.) This 30 percent is the measure that many organizations, including Department of Housing and Urban Development, use to determine whether or not housing is affordable. Many households spend more than 30 percent:



Living at the poverty rate, my family does not have affordable housing. In fact we would be considered “severely burdened” by our housing costs. To be under the 30 percent rule, to not have “burdened” housing, we would need to find a two-bedroom apartment for $458 with utilities included.

Sure, we could move to a less expensive community (FMR in Tooele was $638 in 2008), but finding close employment and services for low-income populations would be difficult. This would increase transportation costs.

What is the point? The point is that housing is a huge part of monthly costs, it is virtually unavoidable, and for a family living in poverty it is precarious. For an owner, one broken water heater would be unmanageable. For a renter, one foreclosure eviction notice (whereby the renter may not receive back the initial deposit) could put a family into homelessness.