Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) More and more people in Utah can no longer afford to rent an apartment or home. The Utah Food Bank and other housing experts say its not because rent is too high, but that wages in the beehive state are too low. However, the Utah Housing Coalition says help is available.
Avery Christiaens, knows what it is like to find a decent place to live. A few years ago, she and her husband found it hard to find a place. “if it was cheap enough - it was really far west or downtown, or somewhere where we didn't want to take our son. We had to make sure it was somewhere safe." Christiaens, a 22 year old mother with a four year old son says, at the time, both her and her husband were working. "My husband was working at Game Stop, he was a manager over there. I was a manager at Justice, Just for Girls, but it still wasn't enough."
Avery is certainly not alone. On Wednesday, affordable housing experts got together in Salt Lake City to talk about the problem, share some numbers and explain why so many are having a tough time renting. Michelle Flynn, the Assistant Executive Director at The Road Home says, "The cost of rental housing is higher than affordable for many of our low income families – especially single parent families who have to work and pay for day care."
She and others in attendance say a big part of the problem, in their opinion, is that wages in Utah are low. They say new research, from the 2010 Out Reach report, shows that a modest two bedroom apartment costs 768 dollars in Utah. The research indicates that the hourly income needed to afford that rent is $14.77. However, the estimated mean income is coming up three dollars short at $11.55 per hour. At that rate, a person would have to work 51 hours per week to be able to safely afford a $768 apartment.
Tara Rollins, with the Utah Housing Coalition, says that level of income forces people to spend too much of their money on rent. She says, "The golden rule is to only pay 30 percent of your income to housing.” But she adds, “Many people are paying more than 50 percent." She goes on to say that those people are just “a broken down car” or a “medical bill away” from losing their apartment.
The coalition wants congress to provide money for a national rental assistance fund. Rollins says the fund was established in 2008, but so far no money has ever been put in it. She says if it was properly funded Utah would get four million dollars to help renters who are struggling.
Some might ask, why don't apartment complexes just lower rent? Tom Wood, who is the President of the Utah Apartment Association, says most affordable apartment complexes are already operating on “a thin margin” and can't afford to lower rents. He says another part of the problem for some units are the thousands of dollars in fees they now have to pay to the Unified Police Department.
There is so much need for help that the Utah Food Bank's renters assistance help line handled 115,000 calls in 2009. Lorna Koci, the Programs Director for the Food Bank says 12,000 calls were for monetary assistance.
If you need help with rent or know someone who does call the Hot line by simply dialing 2-1-1, Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM to 6 PM. Its a toll free call statewide. https://
www.utahfoodbank.org/home/ 
