In Tuesday’s Council Work Sessions, Councilmembers will hear a presentation from EHI Consultants on the results of their Affordable Housing Needs Analysis. In October 2023, Council allocated $188,000 to EHI to assess the exact housing needs of Lexington: how many units are needed, what income levels face the largest housing gaps, and more. In many ways, this report is a follow-up to the 2014 Affordable Housing study done by the firm czb that led to the creation of the city’s Affordable Housing fund. It’s a very meaty, data-heavy presentation that we can’t fully capture in a short newsletter, so we’ll break things down into a few key takeaways. 1.) Lexington’s rent has increased rapidly. The median rent increased 47% from 2019 to 2024, to $1,104. In 2017, the average rent was $839. While these rental cost increases have been particularly pronounced in the past few years, it is also a continuation of a long-term trend. As recently as 2,000, nearly 50% of Lexington’s rental units were under $500 per month. By 2012, that number had fallen to 17% Now, 54.3% of renters in Lexington are housing cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. 28% of households are extremely cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 50% of their income on housing. Lexington’s affordable rent conditions have mostly followed as predicted in the 2014 czb Affordable Housing study. The most affordable areas of Lexington for non-subsidized housing are concentrated in the north side of Lexington, meaning residents have few geographic options for where to live if they have limited budgets. The post Council to hear presentation on affordable housing needs study appeared first on The Lexington Times.