Richmond Realtors assoc. survey: Housing affordability tops Richmond voters’ concerns

Housing affordability and availability are the most pressing concerns for Richmond voters, according to a new citywide survey commissioned by the Richmond Association of Realtors.

The study, which was conducted by American Strategies from April 28 to May 2 and released last week, shows that 74% of residents said that housing affordability is a “very” or “fairly” significant problem. The survey had a representative sample of 654 registered voters.

Nearly 4 in 10 voters, or 38%, cited housing costs and access as the top issue for city leadership to address, far outpacing concerns about water and sewer infrastructure (20%) or crime (18%).

“This report affirms what many of us have been hearing from our community for years: Richmond families are struggling to find housing that fits their budgets and meets their needs,” Richmond Association of Realtors CEO Laura Lafayette said in a statement. “This survey is a clear call to action to advance smart, equitable housing solutions.”

Key findings

One of the major findings in the report is disparities in housing experiences by race, income and geography remain.

For example, it says white voters are more upbeat about the quality of life than Black voters, with 88% of white people reporting their quality of life as either good or excellent, compared to 56% of Black people saying the same. Less than half of Black women and Black people under age 50 rate the quality of life as excellent or good.

The survey shows that 46% of respondents said the quality of life in Richmond has remained the same over the past three years, and 24% feel that the quality of life has improved. However, nearly one-third (28%) feel it has gotten worse, with Black women, lower-income households, renters and residents in Districts 5, 8 and 9 being the most likely to report a quality of life decline. Richmond District 5 begins downtown and stretches south of the river, while districts 8 and 9 are both fully south of the river.

About 72% of Richmond residents surveyed said they need more affordable housing in their neighborhoods. Sixty-six percent said there needs to be more housing options, and 59% said they support changing local zoning codes or regulations to allow more homes to be built in their neighborhoods.

However, of those who supported changing zoning codes, only 26% “strongly agreed,” whereas 20% somewhat disagreed with changing codes and 20% strongly disagreed.

The city is currently undergoing an effort to rewrite and update its zoning code, developing new zoning categories and descriptions, and then mapping those categories to every parcel in the city. Richmond’s city government is in the process of soliciting feedback from the public and has already held several open houses to discuss the effort.

A call for change

The survey found that renters, lower-income and younger voters were most open to new housing construction in their neighborhoods.

“The housing ladder is broken — people can’t move up, down, or across because there’s nowhere to go,” Lafayette said in a statement. “The survey confirms that residents not only recognize this, but are feeling its impact on affordability firsthand. The city of Richmond has a once-in-a-generation opportunity, through the zoning code refresh, to modernize its zoning code and allow for a greater diversity of housing types, so that people can continue to call the city home at every stage of life.”

The association states that Mayor Danny Avula has reviewed the survey’s findings and aims to make Richmond a more equitable place to live. The association says he pledged to find solutions that “promote greater housing opportunities across the city.”