CRA Census Series, The Washington D.C. Area Rental Market (original) (raw)

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AFFORDABILITY OF RENTAL HOUSING IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY20191207 87913 5vykkz

housing affordability in Wa; Ghana

Housing development has never been considered a critical area in Ghana’s development framework. This problem is intensified in the urban settings due to rapid urbanization. One critical elements that cannot be overlooked is the issue of providing affordable housing to urban residents. In view of this, the study set out to enquire into the prevailing housing affordability situations in Wa. SSNIT, Sombo and Kpaguri were selected for this study because they have characteristics that easily reflect the urban housing situations. The study was based on qualitative research approach. The data for this study was obtained from 69 tenants and 6 landlords, sampled from three study areas. The study employed the use of questionnaires and the review of documentations and reports. The findings from the study revealed that, rents are actually affordable with an average monthly expenditure of 5.49% .The study revealed that the extent of housing unaffordability burden is different across the various socio-economic groupings in the municipality. In response to the major issues identified in the analyses, the study makes three recommendations tied to each of key findings to resolve the housing affordability situation in the municipality. First, it is recommended that the department which is in charge of ensuring sanity in the rental sector would intensify educations to the tenants. Second, it is recommended that laws would be made to regulate the rent to be charged on properties within Wa municipal. Rents should be based on the amount of services, utility and facilities enjoyed. And last, it is recommended that the government should resource the rent control department with enough staff to be able to go out on daily basis to ensure sanity in the rental sector.

Rent burden and the Great Recession in the USA

Urban Studies, 2016

In the aftermath of the recent recession, the percentage of households facing rent burden in the USA reached historically high levels, while cost burden for owners has shrunk. This study uses two panels from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to compare the prevalence, distribution and household responses to the phenomenon of rent burden in the USA in the years immediately before and after the Great Recession. Results suggest that rent burden has become more prevalent after the recession and that income, household composition and location are major drivers of this phenomenon, both before and after the recession. Results also indicate that exiting rent burden was more difficult in the years after the recession and that an increasingly common coping mechanism for rent burdened households is to increase their household sizes. These results indicate that renters have experienced increased financial stress related to their housing. This finding is notable given the lac...