The demand for senior housing continues and it’s driving long waiting lists in states like New Jersey.
According to a report from Central Jersey, state officials opened a waiting list for senior citizens apartments in the six buildings operated by the Woodbridge Housing Authority. Before they accepted their first new application for one of the 415 units, the existing waiting list already had 219 applicants.
And that’s in Woodbridge, a township in which the median income of $72,000 is above the state median of $68,000. Head to nearby Perth Amboy, where the median annual household income is close to $46,000, and the waiting list for less than 200 senior housing units stands at 462, while the waiting list for family housing is 4,400.
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Affordable housing in New Jersey is hard to come by, and it’s especially hard for retired senior citizens dependent on Social Security benefits.
A report released this year by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition ranked New Jersey the fourth-most expensive state to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
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The article points out that to be considered “affordable” in New Jersey, it has to cost up to 30 percent of a renter’s income, meaning someone on SSI would be able to afford just $212 a month in rent.
