Northern Kentucky needs more housing, and your input

In Northern Kentucky, thousands of people can barely afford $300 a month for rent. Wealthier residents can't find the bigger homes they want. Most people in the area need small rentals, which are also in short supply.

There's a housing shortage for all of them, and community leaders want to hear from you about it. Three meetings are scheduled.

The data was collected for a housing report released last year by the Northern Kentucky Area Development District , part of a statewide network of county planning and development organizations. The report has a massive amount of data from all eight Kentucky counties in the area: Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton.

The report said Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties are short about 65,000 affordable and income-aligned housing units.

With expected growth over the next 10 years, an additional 6,054 new homes need to be built in the three counties by the end of 2028 just to maintain where the housing shortage currently stands.

Less affordable housing means fewer workers. Fewer workers could deter new businesses from moving into the area and could cause already established businesses to fail, the report said.

The Enquirer analyzed trends across Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. While each county had a few stray data points, we're able to report some general takeaways.

To read the entire housing study, click here .

The poorest households have almost zero rental options

Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties each have hundreds or thousands of households that earn less than $15,000 annually. Northern Kentuckians whose income falls into that category can afford to pay a maximum of $313 in rent monthly.

There are only nine affordable one-bedroom rental units in that price range.

Affordability is calculated as about 25% of household income. It's usually calculated as 30% of one's income, but the report accounted for the additional cost of utilities.

Here's how many rental units are needed for the least wealthy people in each county:

The most wealthy people want bigger homes. There's a shortage.

The housing shortage in all three counties spikes again for the most wealthy households.

Data shows that households that earn $200,000 or more annually want larger homes with at least four bedrooms.

Here's what the need looks like:

Smaller homes are in high demand but there's not enough of them

Households have been getting gradually smaller in Northern Kentucky for the past 50 years. That has created a market for smaller homes.

So, while there's a surplus of larger homes in some income brackets, there are not enough affordable smaller homes for most people.

That's the biggest housing shortage in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.

Here's how many one-or-two bedroom rental units are needed in each county for households that earn less than $75,000 a year:

The housing shortage could get worse unless …

Northern Kentucky's population is expected to keep growing through 2033.

In that time, Boone County is projected to add over 8,100 new households. In Kenton County, it's 3,500. Campbell County can likely expect an additional 1,200.

Not all of those households will need a new unit, the report said. For instance, people move, die, inherit homes, and have different housing needs over time.

With those kinds of variables, the three counties need a total of 6,054 new units in the next five years to stop the housing shortage from getting worse.

It's worth noting this is the total number of new housing needed to maintain the current shortage of homes. It does not address the already existing needs.

Here's a breakdown of how many rentals and purchasable homes need to be built in each of the counties to hold off a housing crisis:

So, there aren't enough affordable homes for everyone else. Now what?

The NKADD housing report is nearly 300 pages of data and maps that create a snapshot of what the housing shortage looks like in Northern Kentucky. But it also suggests micro and macro solutions.

Here are a few actions the report said would help alleviate the housing crunch in Northern Kentucky:

• Reserve publicly owned land for affordable housing.
• Offer low-income tax credits to people who make less than 60% of the area median income (with some stipulations).
• Offer tax abatements or exemptions to drive affordable housing developments.
• Allow accessory dwelling units (like an apartment above a garage or in a basement) by right.
• Allow inclusionary zoning and development incentives. (For example, a developer who builds an apartment complex and prices 10% of the units affordable instead of market rate would get a development incentive, like flexible zoning or design standards.)

How to attend the meetings

Public feedback was sought as part of the housing report, but community leaders still want to hear from people about their experience with housing in Northern Kentucky.

The upcoming meetings are as follows:

• Aug. 22, 6-7:30 p.m., at the Independence Senior and Community Center , located at 2001 Jack Woods Parkway in Independence.

• Aug. 27, 4-6 p.m., at the Erlanger Baptist Church, located at 116 Commonwealth Ave. in Erlanger.

• Sept. 5, 5-6:30 p.m., at the Pendleton County Public Library , located at 801 Robbins Ave. in Falmouth.

Jolene Almendarez reports on Northern Kentucky issues. You can email her at jolenea@gannett.com and follow her on Threads at @jalmendarez57 .

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Northern Kentucky needs more housing, and your input