Lack of Affordable Housing

New Jersey is the third most expensive state for renters, behind California and Washington, D.C. Apartments in Bergen and Passaic counties are among the least affordable in the U.S., according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. To afford the estimated $1,050 rent on a typical two-bedroom apartment in Bergen or Passaic, a worker needs to earn an hourly wage of $20.19, almost quadruple the minimum wage of $5.15. Statewide, renters need an hourly wage of $17.87 to afford a two-bedroom apartment renting for a typical $929, the estimate used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.18

Crowded housing: 65,000 New Jersey households are defined as severely crowded by housing authorities, a 74 percent increase since 1990.19,20 Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign- born.21,22

Palisades Park has seen a series of raids on overcrowded homes in which officials said they uncovered a network of illegal boardinghouses charging immigrants up to $1,100 a month for tiny spaces in converted buildings. Most of the illegal space was partitioned in duplexes and single-family homes. Officials said numerous fire and safety violations have been found in the buildings.23 In Leonia, borough officials are concerned that illegally crowded apartments pose both a health risk and a fire hazard, and they say the problem is growing as unscrupulous landlords capitalize on families desperate for housing, many of them recent immigrants.24