2007/03/07 Council Agenda Packet

0 EVERETT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN market, households with 30 percent and 40 percent of the median income cannot afford average rent, regardless of the size of the unit. At 50 percent of the median income, depending on the size of unit and number of people in the household, some units are affordable or very nearly affordable. However larger families in particular still would have difficulty finding an affordable rental unit. Rental housing in Everett is affordable for a family earning 80% of median income. (Dupre+Scott, Huckell/Weinman Associates) 7. There is a dramatic gap between the availability of assisted housing and the need. The sheer number of households on the Section 8 waiting list and the infrequency with which vouchers become available has led the Everett Housing Authority(EHA) to close the list to new applicants. There are currently 2,357 households on the waiting list. An additional 426 households are on the waiting list for an EHA-owned housing unit. Almost twice as many families as single person households are seeking affordable housing through the Section 8 voucher program. Smaller families of two to four people far outnumber larger families. (Consolidated Plan) 8. Other groups for whom rental affordability is a problem are seniors and persons with disabilities. 1,357 elderly renter households in Everett pay more than 30% of their income for housing. This comprises 53.7%of the City's elderly renter households. In addition there are nearly 3,000 "other"households which include the disabled, those with special needs, and single non-elderly and non-disabled people who pay more than they can afford for their housing. [State of the Cities Data Systems, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)2000 Census- based data] 9. Housing condition in Everett was evaluated based on 2005 data from the Snohomish County Assessor. The Assessor's records include condition information for all properties. Condition categories are: excellent, very good, good, average, fair, poor, and very poor. The vast majority of Everett's single family and multiple family housing is in average or better condition. Buildings in fair,poor, or very poor condition represent 9.43% of single family structures and 5.58 percent of multiple family structures. (Snohomish County Assessor, Huckell/Weinman Associates, Inc.) Table 1: City of Everett Housing Condition in 2005 Housing Condition Single Family Multiple Family Total Very Poor 0.10% 0.02% 0.09% Poor 1.43% 0.57% 1.29% Fair 7.90% 5.09% 7.45% Average 39.72% 47.05% 40.91% Good 39.62% 34.58% 38.80% Very Good 8.38% 2.64% 7.45% Excellent 2.86% 10.05% 4.02% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 10. 60.7% of Everett's housing units have two bedrooms or less. Approximately 7.3% of dwellings in Everett were reported as overcrowded by the 2000 Census, compared to 4.4% in 1990 and only 2.4% in 1980. This reflects the tendency for households to "double up" during times of rapidly increasing housing costs, and/or large extended immigrant and refugee families HOUSING ELEMENT 9