2 days Ago By Nathan Granger
Elected officials, business leaders and other professionals met on Monday for an extended discussion on what to do about the region’s housing problems, many of which stem from a general shortage of accessible housing. Understanding NKY’s housing shortage A study of housing in Northern Kentucky has revealed troubling trends for housing in the region, with the largest need being for “workforce housing” for households earning between $15 and $25 per hour, with monthly housing costs between $500 and $1,500. The region needs about 3,000 more housing units to provide for people within that income range, according to the study.
The demand for one- to two-bedroom rentals and owned properties consistently exceeds their supply, while supply for three and four-bedroom properties consistently exceeds demand. The study suggests that the region needs to build 6,650 housing units to support economic development in the next five years, which equates to 1,330 units per year. Read more here .
The event saw reports from various professional groups and organizations as well as multi-organizational committees. The event heard statements from two NKY mayors–Chris Reinersman of Independence and Julie Aubuchon from Florence–as well as high-ranking representatives from CVG, the Kentucky Housing Corporation, the NKY Association of Realtors, the Building Industry of Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky Area Development District, among others. From left to right: Kenton County Planning and Development Services Executive Director Sharmili Reddy, Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman, Florence Mayor Juile Aubuchon, North American Stainless Vice President Todd Mitchell and Deputy Judge/Executive of Grant County Colton Simpson.
Photo by Nathan Granger | LINK nkhy The issue of housing in NKY has taken up much conversation over the past two years, and the event aimed to begin offering guidance on what cities, counties and businesses can actually do to mitigate the problem. “This event today is designed to present..
. a draft menu of options for our communities to consider,” said Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore. The committees and organizations had presented a draft of various options that could be implemented depending on the specific circumstances of a particular place.
“We already know there’s not a one size fits all,” Moore said. “We know that one county or one city or one community is not going to solve this problem. It is a collective effort.
The idea here is to be able to go from the menu of options and see what each community might be good at, might be better suited for and what the residents of that community might be willing to accept.” Keep up with the latest NKY news with our daily newsletter Sign up Several speakers discussed data and studies about housing as it affected Northern Kentucky. One of the cited reports comes from the Northern Kentucky Area Development District and was released in September 2023.
The study suggested the largest need was for “workforce housing” for households earning between $15 and $25 per hour, with monthly housing costs between $500 and $1,500. The region needs about 3,000 more housing units to provide for people within that income range, according to the study. The demand for one-to-two-bedroom rentals and owned properties consistently exceeds their supply, while supply for three and four-bedroom properties consistently exceeds demand.
The study suggests that the region needs to build 6,650 housing units to support economic development in the next five years, which equates to 1,330 units per year. A chart showing the housing availability in various income brackets. Chart provided | The Brighton Center.
Click for full-sized image. Windy Smith, the deputy executive director of the Kentucky Housing Corporation, also presented data her organization–an independent, statutorily-established quasi-governmental organization–had collected, which showed housing supply gaps split out by income level. The housing corporation’s analysis showed numbers for 2024 and then projected those numbers out to 2029.
The corporation’s analysis predicts overall supply gaps will increase in Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties if nothing changes. Use the interactive map below to see specific figures for the state of Kentucky and individual counties. You can also use the map on the corporation’s own website, linked here .
As to what was causing the problem, it stemmed from various processes and conditions that have curtailed the construction of new homes since the 2008 housing market crash. “We have never gotten back to pre ’08 crisis housing start levels,” said Smith. “So if it started in ’08, and our projection of our study goes through ’29, we’re talking about two decades of under construction.
” Smith went on to say that several factors exacerbate the issue: households are smaller now than they were even in 2008, leading to a higher demand for smaller units; baby boomers owning multiple properties and short-term rentals like Airbnbs taking properties off the market. Wonda Winkler, the president and CEO of the Brighton Center, discussed interactive events the organization previously held throughout the region where residents could learn about the issue of housing and leave feedback on what they thought could change things. Feedback from the residents who went to the events revealed some common desires among residents as it related to housing, such as: Finally, the latter speakers of the event discussed what could actually be done about the problem.
The so-called “menu” of options was still in its drafting stage, but there were a handful of interventions that speakers viewed as promising: “This is a solvable problem,” said CVG Vice President for Public Affairs Seth Cutter. You can view the full draft menu of options below. Note: the draft is preliminary and will likely change in the coming weeks.
A final version is expected to be available around the holiday season..
