The State of Housing in the U.S.

What is the general state of housing in the so-called U.S., the nation with possibly the most stolen wealth on the planet? In 2018, there were more than half a million people “counted” as homeless across this country (40% of them were Black). At the same time, there were also around 1.5 million empty housing units. Or put another way: there were 3 empty homes for every single homeless person.

And the average cost of rent or a mortgage is far beyond the wages that most workers are paid. In the largest and most gentrified cities, the amount of wages needed to be able to afford decent housing is straight up absurd: $61/hr in San Francisco, $54/hr in San Jose. As has been recently highlighted, minimum wage doesn’t cover rent anywhere in the U.S., and in fact “someone would need to make $17.90 an hour to rent a modest one-bedroom or $22.10 an hour to cover a two-bedroom place.” Thus, as illustrated in places like LA where 16,000 people live in their cars, the population of ‘working homeless‘ has been rapidly expanding as wages remain at poverty levels and rent prices are raised, and more and more people border on not being able to afford the cost of living.

The State of Housing in Roanoke

The state of housing in Roanoke is even more extreme regarding empty housing, while also having one of the highest eviction rates of mid-size cities in the country. In 2018 there were an estimated 43 empty homes for every homeless person [317 homeless persons out of 100,000 people; 13,807 empty homes (10,576 vacant rental units + 3,231 vacant houses for sale) out of 146,900 total housing units]. And though rent here may be lower than some cities, wages are still among the lowest. In 2017, more than 1/3 of all households (14,690 households out of 42,333 total) were considered “cost-burdened” (paying more than 30% of our incomes to rent), including almost all (92% of) tenants who make less than $10/hr.

But just calling this phenomenon of exploitation being “cost-burdened” ignores the reason (class war) and understates the crises it creates for many folks, especially those of us who make less than $15/hr (which is 42% of us). Even capitalist real estate companies acknowledge that rent should not be more than 1/4th of your monthly income, which is between $250-$500. However, the average cost of rent in Roanoke in 2019 is double or triple that: $759 for a 1BR apartment, $872 for a 2BR. These exploitative wages & rent don’t add up, which then landlords have used (via the help of the state) to evict 4 families every day here.

 

Homes For All

So if there’s more than enough apartments & houses for everyone to comfortably have shelter then why do we not? The reason lies in who controls the vast majority of housing, and how: banks & landlords, and the capitalist system of private property. Private property (owning something you don’t personally use, need or produce & which everyone needs, ie a forest, lake, building, or the means of production) is different than personal property (owning possessions you need, use & produce, ie your toothbrush, clothes, house, etc). Through this understanding we recognize that private property is theft, and deprives the majority of people of basic needs. For instance, no one should be able to own an apartment building or multiple vacation houses while others don’t have housing.

This is why socialists, communists & anarchists call for the abolition of private property. The method to achieve that (and to end homelessness and manifest the idea of homes for all) is up for debate, but here are some ways we can start to work towards it:

Form a tenants’ union where we live to force landlords to fix/keep our housing decent & fight against raises in rent. New River Tenants Union is a great local example.

Start a community land trust to gain community control of land where we live, like the Black Panther Party did or Cooperation Jackson is currently doing.

Demand & force the government (or organize ourselves) to seize abandoned buildings & empty houses. They could use eminent domain (as private companies do for profit), or tax empty housing owners & enact rent control as the people in Philly & Ireland are pushing for. Even mainstream studies show that simply “housing the homeless” is cheaper & more effective than not. Housing is a human right and we demand homes for all!