Affordable Housing

South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC State Housing) has been there to aid many low income families, disabled persons and older adults for almost four decades. Their vision is to provide all SC citizens the opportunity to live in safe, decent and affordable housing.

The economy has certainly placed many citizens in a situation that they never thought they would be in. With unemployment resulting in foreclosure, many are faced with the problem of "no where to go".

Affordable Housing may still be a challenge for low income renters. Two questions are asked each year by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

1. Could a full time job at minimum wage today support the affordability of a modest rental unit in the community?

2. How much would a family have to earn to to assure them of quickly finding an affordable rental unit? A unit is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of the renter's income.

Fair Market Value(FMV) in South Carolina for a two-bedroom apartment is $675. In order to afford this amount of rent and the utilities without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $2,249 monthly or $26,992 annually. This income level translates into a housing wage of $12.98. This is based on a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks a year.

The following programs provide assistance for affordable housing and can be found in detail by contacting the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority at http://www.schousing.com/:

1. Mortgage Revenue Bond(MRB)Program
2. South Carolina Housing Trust Fund (HTF)Program
3. HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME)Program
4. Multifamily Tax Exempt Bond Program
5. Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)Program
6. Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
7. Contract Administration (CA)Program
8. Neighborhood Stabilization (NSP)Program

Definitions:
Cost-burdened: A household is considered cost-burdened when it spends more than 30% of monthly household income on either housing costs or rental costs.

Cost-burdened, Severe: A household is considered severely cost-burdened when it spends more than 50% of monthly household income on either housing costs or rental costs.

Fair Market Rent: A dollar amount set by HUD to determine the costs of renting a modest housing unit in a given market area (state, county, metropolitan statistical area).

Housing Wage: The hourly wage one would need to earn working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year in order to afford the HUD estimated Fair Market Rent for a given area while spending no more than 30% of monthly income on housing costs or rental costs.

HUD: The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Low Income: A household is considered of low income when its income is between 51% and 80% of area median income.

Low Income, Very: A household is considered of very low income when its income is between 31% and 50% of area median income.

Low Income, Extremely: A household is considered of extremely low income when its income is 30% of or below area median income.

For more information, please contact the Housing Authority of Florence at 843.669.4163 or their website at www.hafsc.org. The Lake City Housing Authority can be contacted at 843.374.3541.