Area's housing dilemma emphasized; Study outlines massive affordability crisis

When it comes to affordable housing, the Sarasota-Manatee County region is in the hole by between 10,000 and 20,000 rental units, according to a recent study by the Florida Housing Coalition.

In addition to overcoming that deficit, Sarasota County alone will need to build another 14,000 affordable homes in the next decade just to keep pace with growth and demand, the study found.

These conclusions come from researcher Kody Glazer and his team at the Florida Housing Coalition.

The team was commissioned earlier this fall to take a deep dive into the area's affordability crisis by four area foundations: the Community Foundation of Sarasota County; The Patterson Foundation; the Gulf Coast Community Foundation; and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.

Glazer, chief legal and policy officer, presented preliminary findings at late November's Affordable Housing Summit, which was organized by the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and attended by nearly 200 local business leaders, nonprofit members and policy makers.

Compiling data from numerous sources - including the U.S. Census, the Florida Department of Revenue, and the University of Florida Shimberg Center for Housing Studies - the researchers put hard numbers to a broadly recognized problem that is squeezing businesses and workers alike.

Sarasota and Manatee County's deficit of 10,000 to 20,000 rental units is focused on rents that would be affordable by residents making less than 80% of the area median income, which is $51,200 per year for individuals and $73,120 for a family of four.

"It's important to have that data to know the scope of the problem," Glazer said after the summit.

Still, even those high deficit numbers don't account for all of the area's challenges, Glazer added.

Bigger problem

Since 2019, the number of rentals under $1,500 a month has plummeted, while those ranging from $2,000 to $2,500 a month soared by 369%.

As many families know, the picture for buyers is also bleak.

Since 2020, the median home sale price in Sarasota County has gone up from $300,000 to $521,000, Glazer said

For both renters and buyers, one thing that is exacerbating a long-standing shortage of affordable housing in the area is that prices are increasing faster than wages.

Nearly 70 percent of Sarasota County's entire workforce is employed in occupations where, taken as individuals, they would be considered "low-income" based on a one-person household, the research showed.

"So many people have misperceptions about low-income residents," Glazer said. "It's most of the workforce."

Glazer looked at the 10 most common occupations in the area. Only two of them paid enough for an employee to afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rate. None paid enough for a worker to buy a median-priced single-family home.

That finding points to a phenomenon long noticed by area case managers and employers: single people are especially hard hit, often forced to double-up with a roommate. That includes single moms, young professionals and seniors on fixed incomes.

Glazer and his team also found that over half of Sarasota County's workforce lives outside the county and commute in for their jobs.

And as residents move away from Sarasota County, they are being replaced by those with much higher incomes - one of only seven counties in the state where that is the case.

In total, nearly 60,000 households - both renters and homeowners - are paying more than they can afford (or greater than 30% of income) on housing, Glazer said.

What is next?

In formulating recommendations, Glazer noted another contributing factor to the affordable housing crisis: a lack of necessary government intervention and effective public policy.

Some of his recommendations include the deployment of all possible funding sources and the building of strong public-private partnerships - something many jurisdictions around the state and nation are doing.

Local housing advocates say they have a blueprint.

Drayton Saunders, a member of Sarasota County's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, or AHAC, spoke at the summit about the committee's recent updated recommendations to the Sarasota County Commission, some of which already incorporate Glazer's suggestions.

He likened AHAC's recommendations to a rocket and launch pad. What was missing was the "fuel" to get affordable housing efforts off the ground.

That fuel, advocates say, is cash - or a reliable revenue stream devoted to affordable housing.

AHAC has proposed one: a percentage of growing property tax income stemming from new development. The method would not entail a change in tax rates or an increase in tax bills.

"No one is going to feel it," Saunders told the summit audience after Glazer spoke.

Instead, the new revenue comes about automatically with growth as the county grants density increases to property owners seeking to build anything from Accessory Dwelling Units to large residential developments. Those density increases add value to those properties as well as the tax rolls.

Saunders said setting aside a portion of that revenue every year for affordable housing could go a long way in tackling the area's current deficit as well as expected demand for the next decade.

While those needs seem daunting, he noted that Sarasota County is already helping to bring about 900 new affordable units thanks to its allocation of $65 million in federal pandemic relief funds and storm-related grant dollars - money the county leveraged against investments from private partners.

That example shows what can be done by reliable infusions of cash, he added.

"But I don't want to wait on another pandemic, and I certainly don't want any more hurricanes," Saunders said.

Though many approaches are needed, community leaders can't sit by expecting the market or supply-and-demand to fix a problem it can't solve, said Matt Sauer, collaboration and impact officer for the Barancik Foundation.

Solving this is "critical to the economic health of our community," Sauer said. "This is a problem we all face, directly or indirectly."