Utility Costs Contribute to Rising Rental Housing Costs in New Hampshire
Bedford, NH - New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority on June 21, 2006 released the results of its annual survey of residential rental costs in New Hampshire. The survey results demonstrated that actual rents, particularly in the southern part of the state, were essentially unchanged from 2005. However, the overall cost of rental housing increased and the element that has caused “gross rents” to elevate are utilities, which have been driven by increased energy costs.
The Authority’s 2006 Residential Rental Cost Survey reports annually on the “gross” rental costs of units in every county of the state. “Gross rents” include the contract rent - the rents paid to property owners - plus an allowance for tenant-paid utilities. Gross rents are used in the survey to standardize rental cost information. This year, the median priced two-bedroom unit, including utilities, statewide was 1.4% higher than in 2005, or up to $1,003 from last year’s $989.
In the metropolitan counties of Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford - which account for approximately two-thirds of all the rental housing units in the state - an estimate of net rents (rent less utilities) showed little change from rents in 2005, however, utility costs rose dramatically and those costs are the primary cause for the 2.5% increase in the median gross rent for all units. Median gross rents for a two-bedroom unit in those counties range from $929 in Strafford County to $1,086 in Rockingham.
Further north and west in New Hampshire, utilities remained a cause for increased gross rental costs, but utilities alone cannot account for all of the increase. Carroll County had the highest increase for the median priced two-bedroom unit at 11%. The median monthly gross rent for a two-bedroom unit in that county rose from $800 in 2005 to $883 for this year.
“Although overall rental cost increases have been modest over the last two years, the median household income of renters has also seen only limited increases during this same period,” said Claira P. Monier, Executive Director of New Hampshire Housing. “This means that, in much of the state, rental housing remains unaffordable to many New Hampshire families. For instance, in Rockingham County a family needs an income of $43,000 to afford the median priced two-bedroom apartment.”
Vacancy rates on a statewide basis were also up slightly to 3.7% from 3.1% in 2005. New Hampshire is still well below the 5% vacancy rate which denotes a “normal” market, and the state’s vacancy rate falls far below the national vacancy rates for rental housing which the Census Bureau estimated at 9.5% for the first quarter of 2006.
The Annual Residential Rental Cost Survey has been conducted each year since 1986. This year’s survey is the result of information gathered on over 32,000 rental units across the state. The most common type of rental housing within the state is a two-bedroom unit. New Hampshire Housing and other public and private organizations use the data collected through the survey to identify needs and establish priorities for housing programs. A complete copy of the survey can be found on the Authority’s web site at www.nhhfa.org.
New Hampshire Housing is a non-profit, public benefit corporation established by the State Legislature. The Authority operates a number of programs designed to assist low and moderate income persons to obtain housing. Since its inception, the Authority has assisted more than 32,000 families purchase their own homes and has been instrumental in financing the creation of more than 12,000 multi-family housing units. More information about single family and multi-family housing programs offered by New Hampshire Housing can be found on the Authority’s web site.