Hampton Roads Habitat for Humanity nonprofits see sharp increase in homebuyer applications
As the cost of living continues to increase across the region, homebuyer applications have nearly doubled in the past year at the Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads.
Applications for the South Hampton Roads chapter are accepted throughout the month of May. The nonprofit organization received 390 applications this year, a sharp increase from the 196 applications received in May last year, Executive Director Frank Hruska said.
Hruska attributed the increase in applications to a variety of factors. Inflation and rising costs of building materials are just a few of the reasons he said people have struggled to find affordable housing. The chapter builds five homes per year.
“When prices went up, it actually impacted more low-income families, and now they’re trying to find more affordable housing to make ends meet,” Hruska said. “So I think that what really happened, I think, between inflation and the pandemic, there’s more and more people now who are struggling to make their mortgage payments or rent payments.”
The increasing cost of living has also made it too expensive for many people to live close to where they work, he said.
“If you are a cafeteria worker and you go to school every day, and you cook lunch for the kids in kindergarten or elementary school or middle school, where do you find a place to live that is within 20 miles of your job? You can’t; you can never find something like that,” Hruska said.
The South Hampton Roads chapter isn’t the only one experiencing an influx of demand.
Janet V. Green, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, said her chapter received 112 homebuyer applications in 2020. That number steadily rose to 140 in 2021 before surging to a historic 250 in 2022 and again to a record 282 applications this year.
“The need for affordable housing is just so great here in the Hampton Roads area, and so that’s why these are 282 families that are seeking an affordable, safe, decent place to raise their families,” Green said.
The number of chosen recipients for the Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg chapter depends on how much land is available to build houses. The chapter tries to build 10 houses throughout the year, she said, and it currently has 14 under construction.
Selected applications are chosen from different criteria, she said. A family selection committee looks at need and good credit history, among other qualifications.
Chosen recipients purchase the house from Habitat for Humanity and are responsible for paying back a monthly mortgage with a 0% interest rate. They also receive financial education classes as part of the process.
Green said she doesn’t see affordable housing issues being solved in the near future, and there will likely be another increase in Habitat for Humanity homebuyer applications next year.
Affordable housing is an issue that affects everyone because the region needs teachers, law enforcement officers and health care staff, she said.
“And as employers in the Hampton Roads region, we need these good employees,” Green said.” They will all be better if there’s more affordable housing nearby.”
Gabby Jimenez, gabrielle.jimenez@virginiamedia.com
