Affordable housing shortage a statewide issue
Whitefish isn’t alone in its struggle to provide more affordable rental units.
A record number of developers applied with the Montana Board of Housing this year to receive a slice of $26 million in housing credits available to assist with projects aimed at addressing affordable rental needs across the state. Applications came from 18 cities, including for one project in Whitefish.
“We have a really large number of applicants this year,” said Penny Cope, spokeswoman for the Board of Housing. “It’s always competitive for the funding, but this is really something different.”
Developers compete for the housing credits through the application process, which allows scoring based on need, population served, energy efficiency, proximity to services, and use of Montana products and labor.
The River View Meadows project along Highway 93 South in Whitefish is proposed by investors from Portland, Oregon-based The Commonwealth Companies. They are seeking funding from the housing credit program that assists with the acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction of rental housing targeted to lower-income households. Without the funding, the Whitefish project won’t happen.
Local business leaders and city officials both have identified a serious shortage in affordable rentals for Whitefish’s workforce. Some employers say hiring for service jobs has become nearly impossible due to a lack of rentals and rent prices. Even young professionals are being pushed out of town due to housing prices.
Other Montana communities are facing the same crisis, said Cope.
“Businesses can’t expand or grow or even start sometimes because they can’t attract employees,” she said. “Maybe they have great wages and benefits, but people can’t accept a job because of housing costs.”
The other communities seeking the housing credits include Belgrade, Bigfork, Pablo, Billings, Bozeman, Browning, Butte, Fort Harrison, Great Falls, Hamilton, Kalispell, Lewistown, Miles City, Missoula, Polson, Stevensville and Wolf Point.
“These proposed housing projects would benefit a wide range of Montanans including young families, businesses that require workforce housing, seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities, Indian Country, big cities, and small towns,” Cope said.
In eastern Montana, the oil boom has taken its toll on the number of affordable units to residents who aren’t making oil-field wages.
“Folks who can’t work in the oil fields have to leave,” Cope said. “Rent has doubled or tripled and they’re having a hard time staying.”
Billings is even feeling the pressure from the Bakken. Cope said Section 8 vouchers for low-income residents are going unused in the city because there are no rental units available.
It’s a different problem in Bozeman, where climbing housing costs in the booming college and technology town are pushing out low-income families.
In Hamilton, it’s rising land prices. In Helena, it’s veterans who are facing a housing crisis. Great Falls has a need for housing options for seniors, and Butte is in need of affordable and sustainable units for people with disabilities.
“There are so many different housing issues in Montana, Cope said. “They’re all different, but all just as important.”
Cope can’t pinpoint why the Board of Housing received so many applicant this year, but she suspects there is a lack of other funding options available for these projects. She notes that often, affordable housing projects don’t pencil out for developers without funding assistance.
“There are fewer and fewer sources to help subsidize these projects,” she said.
The housing board heard from each developer seeking housing credits at their Nov. 9 meeting. Staff members are now reviewing each application and scoring them based on criteria.
The grants will be awarded following the board’s Jan. 19 meeting.