An influx of young professionals to DC is causing the residential construction business to boom but is affecting affordable housing
DC has the highest homelessness rate in the country, and its looming construction boom is posing a threat to low-cost housing, according to Construction Dive.
The influx of young professionals moving into DC is causing the residential construction market boom. However, it poses as a problem to low-cost housing as low-income individuals acquire housing through the private market’s rising rents.
The Council of the District of Columbia passed legislation last month on levying a tax on apartments in the downtown business improvement area of the city. The move is for the area’s population growth — in 1997 there were 1,200 residents; today there are over 10,000 residents and 6,500 units.
A November report from the Washington, DC Economic Partnership and CBRE indicated that by the end of 2016, 6,524 residential units would have been delivered — the biggest number since data collection started in 2001 — and 8,250 units are expected to be delivered this year.
According to The New York Times, homelessness in DC is twice the national average — 124 for every 10,000 residents. In January 2015, 8,350 individuals in the district faced homelessness in shelters, transitional housing and the streets; 17.3% were in poverty.
New York City has the biggest rate of homelessness between 2009 and 2016, with 49%; DC rated the fourth with 34.1%. Nationwide, homelessness from 2009 to 2016 has dropped 12.9%.
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