US EditionLow-Income West Virginians Could Lose Access to 28% of Affordable Housing Unless Lawmakers Step In
Nearly 200 properties, representing 28% of West Virginia’s federally subsidized housing, face affordability expiration by 2034 without new state preservation programs.
- Data from the National Housing Preservation Database show nearly 200 properties are slated to lose federal affordability between 2029 and 2034, risking over 60,000 residents.
- Because West Virginia has not created a state-level preservation program, lawmakers have prioritized tax incentives for higher-cost developments in recent years, leaving housing at risk.
- The West Virginia Housing Development Fund says demand outstrips available credits, and Nate Testman, interim director of the WVHDF, says the agency uses tax-exempt bonds and owner agreements but faces limited federal resources.
- More than 60,000 West Virginians rely on federal rental assistance, and the state needs over 20,000 low-cost units, leaving tenants like 93-year-old Anna Lee Pettit vulnerable if protections end.
- About 30 states now use state-level credits to preserve affordability; Ohio created a low-income housing tax credit in 2023 and Virginia created a housing credit in 2021.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Associated Press News
Low-income West Virginians could lose access to 28% of affordable housing unless lawmakers step in
At 93, Anna Lee Pettit lives alone in a first-floor apartment at Morgantown’s Unity House Apartments, where she can get her mail indoors and avoid hauling garbage outside in the winter.
Low-income West Virginians could lose access to affordable housing over the next decade without state action
At 93, Anna Lee Pettit lives alone in a first-floor apartment at Morgantown’s Unity House Apartments, where she can get her mail indoors and avoid hauling garbage outside in the winter. She survives on Social Security benefits and said she wouldn’t have made it without affordable housing after her husband died. She now pays $435 a month for rent on top of her electric and phone bills. Pettit said she was fortunate that subsidized housing was a…
Low-income West Virginians could lose access to 28% of affordable housing unless lawmakers step in - The Morning Sun
At 93, Anna Lee Pettit lives alone in a first-floor apartment at Morgantown’s Unity House Apartments, where she can get her mail indoors and avoid hauling garbage outside in the winter. She survives on Social Security benefits and said she wouldn’t have made it without affordable housing after her husband died. She now pays $435 a month for rent on top of her electric and phone bills. Pettit said she was fortunate that subsidized housing was ava…
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