Renters make up 53% of Knoxville’s population. The increased demand for rental properties and their limited supply, along with the lingering effects of foreclosures, demographic changes, and a decline in the rate of renters transitioning to owning, have led to higher rents. In turn, rising rental prices have outpaced wage increases and inflation across America, leading to a growing number of rent- burdened households.
Workers find it difficult to purchase a suitable home or rent an
affordable apartment close to their places of employment. Overall, employee
wages are not growing fast enough to keep pace with the county’s rising housing
costs. Between 2000 and 2015 in
Knoxville,
- Home prices up 9.8%
- Rental prices up 15.1%
- Wages up 2.3%
According to the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a household is considered
“cost burdened” when residents spend more than 30% of their monthly income on
housing costs, which includes rent/mortgage payments, insurance, utilities, and
taxes. In Knoxville, 44% of the rental
households are cost burdened.
The number of
renter households continues to grow along with their cost burdens. As of September 2018, average rent for an
apartment in Knoxville, TN was $907, a 3.75%
increase from last year when the average rent was $873.
One bedroom apartments in Knoxville rent for $796 a month on average (a 2.76% increase from last year) and two bedroom apartment rents average $918 (a 2.51% increase from last year). A minimum wage worker can afford housing at $377 per month.
One bedroom apartments in Knoxville rent for $796 a month on average (a 2.76% increase from last year) and two bedroom apartment rents average $918 (a 2.51% increase from last year). A minimum wage worker can afford housing at $377 per month.
The growing number of rent-burdened households suggests
that a rising share of Knoxville residents may be experiencing serious
financial fragility. Unless the current national trends toward increasing
inequity and a dwindling middle class get turned around, we should expect an
even greater rise in rent-burdened households along with more renters.
Policymakers should be aware of the increase in
rent burdens. The lack of affordable
housing limits household consumption and reduces the economic mobility and
financial resiliency of our community’s families.
In 2015, the national African-American home ownership rate was 41.2
percent, compared to the rate of
Euro-American rate of 64%. Put another
way, African-American homeownership is as low as it was when housing
discrimination was legal back in 1968.
That means 60% of African rent.
Segregation is alive and well in America.
Recode Knoxville needs to help define the pathway
toward construction of more affordable housing throughout the city. A greater supply of housing will moderate
rising housing costs. Increasing the
rental housing supply, from duplex to high rise, begins with increasing city-wide
the density of housing allowed by zoning.
Renters are woefully under-represented on City Council, the MPC, and the Recode Advisory Stakeholder Council. The neighborhood groups largely represent the concerns of homeowners and often resist the inclusion of rental development within their neighborhoods. In absence of adequate renter representation on decision making and stakeholder groups, the City must make a special effort to recognize the need for more and affordable rental housing throughout the city. After all, renters are the majority.
