Affordable Housing

When the coronavirus pandemic hit and left thousands of Americans out of work, one question kept popping up: what about rent? How can tenants pay for their housing when they’re out of work, especially when some of the hardest-hit industries are low-wage jobs? 

There is overwhelming demand for emergency financial assistance right now as so many people have lost jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The build-to-rent market has been exploding in the Treasure Valley, with developers building homes not for people to buy —but for people to rent.

For men and women returning to society from incarceration, access to affordable housing is key to their success. 

For men and women returning to society from incarceration, access to affordable housing is key to their success. But with Idaho's tightening rental market already keeping affordable housing out of reach for much of the general public, the risk of prison recidivism continues to rise when former inamtes can't secure sustainability, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. 

From dorms to multi-family housing units, property owners are turning to new ways to build more cost-effective housing. IndieDwell, a Boise-based company which has built affordable houses using shipping containers in the Treasure Valley, is now finishing up its first site in the Wood River Valley.

Since 2011, the Home Partnership Foundation has held the Avenues for Hope Campaign every December, raising more than $2 million for housing and homelessness nonprofits across Idaho. Idaho Matters talks with campaign organizers to learn how this philanthropy works in action.

Affordable housing in the resort town of Ketchum hit another roadblock last week. A project there will not receive low income housing tax credits that would have made more affordable units available.

An Ada County Commissioner, a CEO and a former superintendent will walk into a bar next week — no, this isn’t a setup for a cheesy bar joke. It’s a setup for a discussion about serious issues.

Short-term rentals have become a popular alternative to hotels and have created side hustle income for homeowners, in some cases helping folks cover their mortgage. But some critics say these kind of rentals are compounding affordable housing problems. The City of Boise is looking at creating rules on short-term rentals. The group Boise Regional Realtors is pushing back on this idea. 

In recent years, alternative housing has become a popular solution to the increasing cost and the environmental impact of traditional building materials. Caldwell-based company indieDwell specializes in building modular housing using shipping containers. They are now partnering with the College of Idaho to create dorms using this modular construction method. Idaho Matters talks to both parties about the future of dorms and innovations of housing.

In December of 2015, the City of Boise shut down a tent camp for people experiencing homelessness called Cooper Court. Since then, the city has moved towards a “housing-first” model to combat homelessness and, as a result, a new housing project will open this October.

Homebuyers are looking for something more practical than the 'McMansions' of the 2000s and tiny houses seem to be a viable solution to urban/suburban housing crunches. Small on the outside, roomy on the inside, affordable with a minimal carbon footprint, these houses are becoming the preferred option in growing communities like Boise's. We look at this trend and talk about a group of high school students who built a tiny house for a good cause with Matt Jones of Metro Community Services.

IndieDwell is repurposing shipping containers into habitable homes for a fraction of the price of a traditional brick-and-mortar home and they leave a substantially smaller environmental footprint. Could shipping containers help solve the pending housing crunch facing the Treasure Valley?

A planned block of new homes in the Treasure Valley is attracting buyers before the foundations are even laid.

You've seen those large metal boxes atop truck trailers. They're used to ship goods from distant seaports to local warehouses while remaining in the same container. Now a Boise home builder says they could be one solution to the shortage of low-income housing.

The Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the construction of an eight-unit apartment complex to be built in the Woodside subdivision. The Wood River Valley has suffered in recent years for its lack of affordable housing.

You have to make nearly twice the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Idaho. It’s more than double the minimum wage if you want to rent in Ada or Canyon counties and closer to triple for Blaine County. That’s from a study out last week from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The City of Boise Thursday celebrated the opening of a new apartment complex for low-income seniors. It’s called the Vineyard at Eagle Promenade, though it’s actually in Boise just across the road from Eagle. The City of Boise helped pay for the 30-unit project along with several partners, including the Idaho Housing and Finance association and New Beginnings Housing which has other low-income housing in Nampa, Caldwell and Hailey.

A developer broke ground Wednesday on a new upscale apartment building in downtown Boise. If it feels like you’ve seen a lot of these lately, you’re not imagining things. Ada County is in the middle of an unprecedented apartment building boom.

Consider a spot in southwest Boise where workers are putting siding on one of several buildings in a new apartment complex called the Asheville. They’re bundled up because the temperature is hovering right at freezing. But it’s blessedly warm inside one of the units that’s already finished.

The rising cost of rental housing is a story being played out in cities across the country. In Idaho, the affordable housing crisis in Boise has been well documented.