PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV is listening to your concerns on the housing crisis, as many of you are feeling priced out.
Affordable housing has been a big focus in Palm Beach County that I've been digging into for months working to get answers.
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Palm Beach County staff revealed that in the next five years they expect the area to lose 1,000 affordable units.
That’s because affordable housing restriction contracts with developers are set to expire that guaranteed a certain number of affordable units for 15 to 30 years.
It's a step back from the growing task to find residents solutions to the housing crisis.
While it may be too late for the 1,000 units mentioned, I reached out to county staff to see what its doing to help with future loss.
I was told commissioners are pushing to update construction contracts, requiring developers to commit to a longer restriction deals, which will protect the affordable unit inventory on future developments.
The plan is to take the 15 to 30 year restriction standard and increase it to a 50-year restriction term.
In January, I reported on a Palm Beach County housing study that found the area will need 80,785 new affordable housing units to meet the demand of the 205,195 people projected to move to the area in the next 10 years.
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"Do we need to build our way out of this or do we need to also tap into existing inventory and make those affordable?" Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward questioned during the meeting.
I turned to the community as I worked to find answers.
"You want to stay here, but it's hard to find a nice place," said Ivonne Manzo. "Some people are struggling to get by."
She's a mother of two who said her and her partner have rented out the same place for the last 10 years.
It's helped her budget to pay for rent, groceries, car costs and insurance fees as the housing crisis is on her mind.
"You kind of outgrow the space, but then you look at what you want to get, and you're not going to find that," said Manzo.
She said rentals are going for around $3,000 per month, and said there aren't very many affordable options for families of 4 like hers.
I dug into the issue and found on the Palm Beach County Housing Locator Dashboard that there are 9,302 affordable housing units in the area but it's unclear how many are currently available.
Commissioners have gotten creative with their approach to the problem.
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Last week, to address the ongoing housing crisis in Palm Beach County, commissioners approved a plan to convert the La Quinta hotel on Okeechobee Boulevard into permanent housing for seniors and veterans aged 55 and older.
The facility will offer 114 rooms of housing for seniors and veterans 55+ who are on the brink of homelessness.
In the last year commissioners have been working to bring mini cottage complexes where residents will have social services on site and resources to transportation, food banks, career sources to help them find permanent housing.
"Yeah, there's really nothing affordable right now," said Chris Varela.
I met Varela, a single father of two, at Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach. His kids are on spring break and said the park was a free way to spend the day with his family while they budget their finances.
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"This is one of the places that they don't charge you for parking. And that's another thing, no matter where you go they're going to be charging you for parking," said Varela. "You go to Lake Worth Beach, you go anywhere down to Boynton Beach, you have to pay for parking."
He said his family fell into hard times, and is living with his senior mother, as she is also in a tough spot financially.
"Have you considered getting another job just to get by?" I asked.
"I'm already working 10 hours a day," said Varela.
His current living situation is allowing him to save up money as he has a 2-year goal to try and buy a house.
According to the county dashboard, there are currently 118 housing projects underway.
Details for a combination six workforce and affordable housing projects are listed on the West Palm Beach Housing Authority website.