Many need rental help in Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A study conducted by My lista commercial real estate website, shows that 25% of Alabamians are behind on rent.

The CEO of Birmingham Urban League, which helps with rental aid, said he was not surprised. Its own rental assistance pool is full.

“We are seeing people in the big cities like Birmingham but also in some of the smaller cities like Brighton and other places, and I have to tell you that in all areas you have seen the exponential rise in rents in all of these areas ,” said William Barnes, CEO of the Birmingham Urban League.

They have seen a surge in the number of customers requiring rental assistance. Currently, they are able to help about 80 families per week. Barnes said they average around 400 families a month. He said families needed to spend far more than the recommended 25% of their income on rent.

“Up to 40 to 45 percent, up to 15 percent of their top income,” Barnes said.

A researcher with Rent.com says one of the reasons it’s hitting families so hard is that wages can’t keep up.

“Wages are going up, especially for low-income people, wages are going up, but wages are not going up as fast as rents are going up. And so all that extra money that you might see on your salary is really going to be eaten up by your housing costs,” Jon Leckie said with Rent.com.

He says costs in Birmingham and other cities are slowly coming down, but they are still high compared to pre-pandemic and even last year at this time.

“It’s a little over 18%,” Leckie explained.

Urban league rental assistance programs have been full for some time, but they and Jefferson County just announced this week that they are once again accepting applications for 18-month rental assistance.

“There are very few people who can say they have had no impact in any part of their life. And so it’s open to a much more robust number of people,” Barnes said.

For more information about the Urban League and how to apply, click here.

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