Increased housing costs weigh on Southern Utahns; Housing Action Coalition seeks attainable solutions

The 2021 St. George Area Parade of Homes features unique designs and construction trends, Washington County, Utah, Feb. 16, 2021 | Photo by Hollie Stark, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Southern Utahns are feeling the pinch. Many are concerned about what increased housing costs mean for them, and others are struggling to find housing at all.

This file photo shows the Hurricane Heights neighborhood, built by the residents of Self-Help Homes, Hurricane, Utah, Feb. 15, 2022 | Photo by Sarah Torribio, St. George News

And in response, the Housing Action Coalition, a community-driven organization, is working to bring more attainable housing to Washington County.

St. George News requested reader comments on the now-set-to-private Facebook Group St. George Word of Mouth. Many comments expressed concern about the city’s growth and development, particularly about traffic, crime and water.

While some, including a few business owners, said that the increasing population had a positive impact on them, others called for a halt to development.

Tony Maurer, however, said that people entering Utah and buying homes with cash have increased housing costs, and prices would not drop if the city placed a moratorium on construction.

“We need the additional houses to level and start the decline in cost,” he said.

Many commenters shared concerns about the increasing cost of renting or buying a home. For instance, Rebecca Patten Holt said that she sold her house when she got divorced. Shortly after, housing prices increased and she’s now scared she won’t be able to buy another.

Roberta York said there is “no affordable housing for young people” and that the required rental fees are “ridiculous.” Sam Merrill said housing has become “next to impossible for locals to find or keep.” Merrill, who is a single parent, said that single-income families are struggling the most.

“If my rent goes up any more than it is now, I’ll be forced to live in a tent,” she said.

Monica Brown-Owens, who works as a realtor and certified divorce mediator, said that even while making a higher-than-average income, she feels that homeownership could be out of reach for her. She said in her experience, locals are leaving the state for a less volatile housing market.

Housing Action Coalition

This file photo shows a completed home built through the Self-Help Homes sweat equity program, Toquerville, Utah, March 17, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Self-Help Homes, St. George News

The Housing Action Coalition, also known as HAC, is a group of individuals and municipal and community stakeholders interested in increasing the amount of attainable housing in Washington County, according to its website.

A table created by the coalition compared the availability of housing units from June 2020 to April 2021, categorized by income. The number of units decreased almost across the board, with only the lowest bracket seeing a slight increase.

The greatest change was for those who made more than 100% of the area median income, decreasing from 662 to 94, an 85.1% drop. The next highest reduction was for those making between 80-100% of the area’s median income, which fell from 152 units to just 10.

The area median income describes the midpoint in the region’s income range. In Washington County, the median income for a family of four was $69,600 in 2021, according to a table created by the Housing Action Coalition.

For comparison, the area median income for Washington County in 2020 was $70,700 for a family of four, according to a document made available by the coalition.

Attainable housing 

In this file photo, Shirlayne Quayle, director of economic vitality and housing for the city of St. George, speaks the St. George City Council, St. George, Utah, July 28, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The coalition was created about three years ago and is co-chaired by the city and the county. It is primarily community-led by realtors, developers, mortgage professionals and bankers, among others, Shirlayne Quayle, director of the City of St. George’s Department of Economic Vitality and Housing, said.

One of the primary drives of the coalition is to reduce intergenerational poverty, said Quayle.

“And so, as we started with (the coalition), the first question we asked was, you know, ‘What does affordable housing actually mean in the community? What does that mean to people?’ And we found that the term had quite a stigma,” she said. “And we needed to not just look at housing through the intergenerational poverty lens — we needed to be able to look at housing across the whole spectrum.”

While researching the problem, the coalition found that some citizens were both concerned that affordable housing would be built near them and that people they knew couldn’t find housing. Quayle said many supported increased access to affordable housing for their children, grandchildren, and community members like teachers and public safety officers.

“So there was this whole there was kind of a disconnect between affordable housing and housing that people needed to be able to afford to live in,” she said.

This file photo shows apartments and other residential development along Washington Parkway, Washington City, Utah, Nov. 30, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Through this process, the coalition began to use the term “attainable housing,” which members define as housing for all ages and income levels within the community, Quayle said, adding that Washington County has done a good job serving high-end farmers.

Still, there is an attainable housing gap for those making low to moderate income, Quayle said.

Alicia Maldonado, the Housing Action Coalition’s community coordinator, said that when people think of affordable housing, they imagine high-density neighborhoods with more congestion and traffic.

“A lot of negative things are associated with affordable housing,” she said.

In response, many housing companies are moving toward housing designs that look “more like regular homes, as opposed to looking like housing projects,” Maldonado said.

Additionally, the Housing Action Coalition is working to change the public’s perception of attainable housing and hopes to reduce the negative sentiments that some have about the concept.

“There’s just a lot of people that need attainable housing that are just like your neighbors,” she said. “They can’t afford to live here because the housing is so expensive.”

Seeking solutions

This file photo shows downtown in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy city of St. George, St. George News

There are about 85 people actively engaged in the Housing Action Coalition and five working groups are focused on different areas, Quayle said. These groups are working toward helping people find homes, researching financing options, encouraging companies and large employers to join the conversation and increasing public awareness, among others.

Maldonado said that managing the multi-sector groups is sometimes like “herding cats” but the volunteers are “great people who are committing a lot of their own time to do this and to try to help find the answer to increasing attainable housing for residents in Southern Utah.”

The Housing Action Coalition’s goals are  “all being worked on at once,” Quayle said, which is why there are multiple working groups active at a time. Additionally, some individuals are part of multiple groups, which allows for “cross-pollinating.”

Quayle said originally the coalition was studying construction innovation with a focus on housing solutions but ultimately took a step back to research who in the community needed housing and what solutions they were open to.

For instance, a recent college graduate who wants to stay in the area might not be able to afford a house or pay rent, Quayle said.

This file photo shows downtown St. George, Utah, June 3, 2o22 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“So are they open to shared living opportunities? …Where in town do they want to live? How important is it that they’re close to transportation? Or do they want to live closer to where they can walk to work or are they OK to drive or live on the outskirts of town?” said Quayle, adding that much of that kind of information helps the coalition guide the solutions-based approach that the coalition is trying to take.

One solution is to increase the number of accessory dwelling units, which are smaller, residential units either attached to the main structure or detached on the same land. Quayle said research indicates that these units could increase the amount of attainable housing on the market.

Cedar City News previously reported that a 2021 study by the Utah Foundation stated that Utah is short 45,000 housing units, a gap which it said could not be closed by apartment complexes alone.

Additionally, the rent charged for accessory dwelling units averaged about 58% below market value according to a study by the University of California, Berkley. Cedar City Councilmember Tyler Melling said that many Utahns currently spend more than half their income on rent and increasing the number of these unit types could cause rental prices to decrease across the board.

This file photo shows a house in an older neighborhood near East Elementary, Cedar City, Utah, April 4, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, Cedar City News

Some individuals building homes have faced financial barriers to building accessory dwelling units because traditional construction loans haven’t typically covered them. Habitat for Humanity has been looking into assisting existing homeowners in building them, Quayle said.

The coalition has sought to address the housing problem creatively, pulling from national data, best practices from other areas and gathering resources, Quayle said. One of these is Missing Middle Housing, a concept that promotes diverse housing options for individuals at various income levels to create walkable neighborhoods, according to its website.

Quayle said that the group is looking into how Missing Middle Housing can be integrated into the community in different areas of town, each with unique needs.

Those who want to get involved with the Housing Action Coalition can request to join the mailing list via email. To view various housing types, see the coalition 2021 roundtable presentation here.

To view reader responses to the St. George News post on St. George Word of Mouth, click here.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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