68 percent of renters, 43 percent of all FEMA registrants have incomes less than $30,000 per year
Nearly 50 percent of New York City units impacted were low-income, subsidized, rent-stabilized or Mitchell-Lama housing; only one in ten were single family homes
NEW YORK, NY – March 6, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Low-income renters of New York and New Jersey are in greatest need of Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA), according to two new reports released today by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise), the nation’s leading provider of affordable housing and community development capital and expertise, and New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy. The reports indicate that with low-income households disproportionately impacted by the storm and in need of FEMA assistance, the ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts must allocate resources to meet the needs of people who have limited resources to rebuild their lives.
The Furman Center report, “Sandy Effects on Housing in New York City,” focuses on New York City, while Enterprise’s “FEMA Assistance Analysis” examines the need for FEMA assistance regionally including in Long Island and New Jersey. Enterprise’s report found that 45 percent of people requesting assistance in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy report household incomes of less than $30,000 per year. Of the 43 percent of people in New Jersey who are renters, 67 percent are low-income. In addition, the Furman Center’s report found that 41 percent of New York City units impacted are designated as low-income, subsidized, rent-stabilized or Mitchell-Lama housing, and only one out of ten households are single family homes.
“Our findings clearly indicate that the people most in need of assistance were already most vulnerable prior to Hurricane Sandy, low-income renters. Unlike homeowners, low-income renters have fewer resources to rebuild and get back on their feet as they are less likely to have insurance that covers property damages,” said Tiffany Manuel, vice president of Knowledge, Impact & Strategy at Enterprise. “Our data analysis is part of Enterprise’s ongoing effort to identify the needs of those impacted by the storm and track the rebuilding effort, which we hope will help inform municipalities as they decide how to best meet residents’ needs and allocate the first third of the $50.5 billion of federal aid that have already been allocated.”
“Much of the reporting on Sandy victims has focused on homeowners. Yet, 55 percent of the surge victims in New York were very low-income renters, whose incomes are $18,000 a year on average,” said Max Weselcouch of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. “These households were vulnerable before the storm, and programs to assist them will need to take their need for affordable housing into account in order for them to fully recover from the storm’s damage.”
Additional takeaways from Enterprise’s report include:
• More than 500,000 households across New York and New Jersey have registered with FEMA for assistance, as of February 20, 2013.
• Overall, Nassau County, New York had the highest number of registrants (74,337) of any county examined. Ocean County had the highest number (52, 878) in New Jersey.
• Queens County had the highest number (53,535) among New York City’s five boroughs.
• Over 200,000 households have sustained damage not covered by insurance.
• The number of homeowners assessed with uninsured damage is 60 percent higher in New York State than in New Jersey.
• Of all registrants, 49 percent in New York City and 45 percent in New Jersey have incomes less than 30,000 per year.
• Of the renter registrants for which FEMA had recorded a damage assessment, 55 percent were classified by FEMA as sustaining either “major” or “substantial” damage to their property.
Additional findings from the Furman Center’s report include:
• 80 percent of the housing stock impacted by Hurricane Sandy was built before 1983.
• Almost 20 percent of NYCHA’s 178,000 total units were in buildings that were damaged by Sandy.
• The storm surge from Sandy covered 16.6 percent of the land in New York City.
• The 76,000 buildings it reached contained nearly 9 percent of the total housing units in the city.
• Of the 302,000 housing units in the surge area, 70 percent are located in multifamily properties with more than 4 units. Nearly 50 percent of the units impacted were low-income, subsidized, rent-stabilized or Mitchell-Lama housing.
“In New York, we see that 8 out of 10 of the buildings in the surge areas are actually older buildings built prior to 1983, when the most recent flood-related building codes were adopted,” added Weselcouch. “These buildings will require significant resources to rebuild and retrofit to the current building standards.”
Both reports are based on FEMA’s data of households across New York and New Jersey who registered for assistance with FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as of February 14, 2013.
The Furman Center report (PDF) and the Enterprise report (PDF) are now available.
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Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For 30 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $11.5 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve nearly 300,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Visit www.EnterpriseCommunity.org and www.EnterpriseCommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise’s efforts to build communities and opportunity.
Since opening a New York office in 1987, Enterprise has created or preserved more than 35,000 affordable homes for 116,000 New Yorkers, and has committed over $2.3 billion in equity, grants, and loans to community development projects across the city.
The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy is a joint center of the New York University School of Law and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. The Furman Center launched the Moelis Institute for Affordable Housing Policy to improve the effectiveness of affordable housing policies and programs by providing housing practitioners and policymakers with information about what is and is not working, and about promising new ideas and innovative practices. More information on the Furman Center and Moelis Institute for Affordable Housing Policy can be found at FurmanCenter.org or @FurmanCenterNYU.
Contact for Enterprise:
Stephanie Ramirez
212-784-5704
sramirez (at) groupgordon (dot) com
Contact for Furman Center:
Shannon Moriarty
617-824-0069
sm4901 (at) nyu (dot) edu
