April 30, 2021
SALT LAKE CITY – A new report warns that thousands of Utah seniors could lose their homes unless federal and state officials act to get existing senior housing subsidies.
The report, produced by AARP Utah, said that millions of dollars in tax credits and block grants will expire over the next few years and vulnerable seniors will be pushed out of affordable rental properties.
Alan Ormsby, state director for AARP Utah, said if rents were not stabilized, property owners would be forced to calculate current market prices, which could crowd out fixed income older people.
“In Utah we are in a nationwide housing crisis,” Ormsby said. “If the state loses over 40% of its government-subsidized rental units for low-income seniors over the next 25 years, more than 15% of those units could be lost by 2030.”
The report recommends including expiring senior housing units in low-income housing plans, setting up a special fund for the maintenance of senior housing, adopting age-appropriate zone codes and requiring a one-year notice period for expiring housing subsidies.
Ormsby said if programs like Section 8 and the low-income housing tax credit are not properly funded, Utah could lose up to 120 senior housing units a year.
“Without this vital source of affordable housing,” Ormsby said, “more than 3,000 senior households in Utah could suffer from instability and homelessness in the decades to come.”
The report’s author, Otelo Reggy-Beane – a member of the Utah Housing Coalition – said subsidized housing programs are planned over decades, not just a few years.
“Maintaining senior housing would not only maintain the affordability of the existing senior housing supply,” Reggy-Beane said, “it would also prevent the unnecessary displacement of thousands of older, low-income Utahns.”
The report also recommended that Utah officials consider establishing a state-wide housing assistance program to help stabilize subsidized rental costs for seniors. For more information on the report, visit States.AARP.org online and click Utah.
Preserving Senior Affordable Housing, a report by UHC and AARP Utah. 04/30/21
This story was originally published by the Public News Service. More information is available at publicnewsservice.org.
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