Maxwell Drever explains the meaning of the affordable housing crisis

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(Newswire.net — September 15, 2021) —

People all across the globe are facing the problem of affordable housing. It is affecting millions of individuals who belong to the middle-income group. Now, what is a middle-income group? Those who work for around 35 to 40 hours a week but earn minimum wages fall within this category. They face difficulty in affording a typical two to three-bedroom apartment for themselves. It is because of the low wages, increasing economic strain, and high rent of housing estates. Housing estate research reports reveal that ever since 2016, the problem has aggravated.

Furthermore, the worldwide pandemic has aggravated the issue. It is here that the high-income earners are coming up with a positive approach to solving this problem. However, the challenge is not only typical for the low-income group. It is affecting every section of society differently.

Governmental policies favor homeowners over the renter

Affordable housing policies vary from one government to the other. Irrespective of these variations, they have one thing in common. The policies favor the homeowners and hotel owners over the renters. Since it is a tax deduction policy, Maxwell Drever asserts that the federal welfare program gets directed towards the higher strata of society. However, it is a challenging task to provide affordable housing to middle-income groups. The process of conversion of already existing structures into an affordable housing estate is not easy. The homeowners and hotel owners are getting federal governmental grants for providing subsidized residences to middle and lower-middle-class individuals. But it is a challenging task. It is because the acquisition of property at a minimal rate is not an easy process. Following this, the conversion process has its hassles.

The problem faced by the low-income group

Well, the affordable housing crisis gets targeted towards the middle and lower-income groups. It is this section of society that is worst affected. Since they do not have the resources and wages to afford a standardized living, they always look for subsidized shelters. It is here that they are dependent on the other sections of society for their living. On the other hand, finding a residence near to the job location is another challenging aspect.

The high cost of construction material

Those belonging to the real estate industry interested in constructing new structures for providing affordable residence to the workforce have their challenges. One of them is the increasing price of construction materials. The prices of lumber, tools, labor, cement, and bricks are increasing day by day. Hence, it is a critical challenge for those individuals trying to construct these residential units for needy people.

Hence, the challenges of affordable workforce housing are not only a problem for the middle-income group. Every section of society is dealing with a crisis. The prices of wood have seen an increase of 16% in the last few years. However, a positive approach and consistency are the need of the hour. It will solve the issue shortly. The need of the hour is to discern the target population and to direct the benefits towards them.