COLUMBIA, S.C. — SC Housing announced it is reopening its waitlist for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) in five Midlands counties. However, officials say the number of affordable living places in the state remains low.
“It’s incredibly difficult to find safe, quality affordable housing in the Midlands area,” Sue Berkowitz said.
Berkowitz is an attorney and policy director at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
“We hear from people daily about problems with mold and other conditions and inability to get their property fixed, but unable to move anywhere else because there isn’t anywhere else to move,” she said.
SC Housing is set to reopen its HCV program waitlist in February for Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, and Lexington counties. Counties outside the Midlands, Colleton and Dorchester, were also included.
But Berkowitz said it isn’t all good news.
“People can be on these waitlists for years, and if you’re a single mom and you’re working and you’re trying to support your kids and pay for child care and feed them, if you have housing costs that 50% plus of what your living expenses are, you’re not going to be able to maintain that,” she said.
According to the Palmetto State Housing Study, affordable housing is difficult to come across here in the Midlands.
Lila Anna Sauls, CEO of Homeless No More, said this could impact those wanting to use their voucher.
“One of the problems with vouchers right now is there’s not housing stock to use the vouchers towards; so, just because an individual receives the voucher, they then have to find a landlord or a property that takes the vouchers,” she said.
Housing vouchers help low-income families supplement parts of their rent.
“Rural areas, huge deficit of housing, but then again, it’s just magnified in the urban areas. So, it’s not just Columbia; it’s Sumter; it’s Lexington. If you’re thinking of it as 30% of your income, it makes you understand that it’s not just low-income affordable housing; this is for all,” she said.
The waiting list application period will begin Feb. 5 at 8 a.m. and end Feb. 7 at 5 p.m.