Housing report highlights need for more rental units in Dallas

The latest housing data shows Dallas’ progress in adding more rental properties falls well short of demand.

And the pain is being felt most by those who are trying to find affordable housing as the city tries to find a solution.

Fast-rising home values have an impact beyond homeowners. Renters feel it too, both in rising per month cost with fewer able to enter into home ownership.

It’s two of the findings from the latest Dallas Housing Needs Assessment.

Updated data from Dallas’ Housing and Community Development Department looks at available rent inventory at a variety of price points.

The report presented to the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee, Dallas has added 66,000+ apartments at or above $1500 per month.  However, in the same five-year time period (2017 – 2022) there’s been a loss of 100,000 units priced at or below $1000.

“You’ve got a lot of people that can’t afford any more than that,” Mark Melton said.

Merk Melton is a tax attorney who started the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, a pro bono service for tenants facing eviction, during the pandemic in 2020.

“Their income didn’t go up by 30 or 40% like rents did,” Melton said.

The data also looks at the impact on renters based on income.

A server making about $30,000 could afford a rent of $757 per month, according to the report.  In the scenario, a hypothetical restaurant server would either need a roommate, spend 160% of their budget or move outside of the city.

Some on the 5-member Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee argued the report undercounts the amount of affordable housing in Dallas.

“To say that the only option is to have a roommate or move to Mesquite or Arlington is ridiculous,” Cara Mendelsohn said.

Councilmember Chad West said by any measure Dallas is behind in the goal of providing more housing as population is forecasted to continue increasing in the coming decades. “We should be to meet our projected goals of building 20,000 to 25,000 new units per year,” West said. “We’re barely doing 10 percent of that. It’s a huge problem.”