Evictions lower, but Henrico officials remain focused on housing needs

While evictions in Henrico are significantly lower than they were before the pandemic, Henrico officials are spending money to address the issue and demands for affordable housing, a county official said Oct. 25.

Although there has been a spotlight on evictions in recent months, they have not reached pre-pandemic levels, Henrico Director of Community Revitalization Eric Leabough told the county’s board of supervisors during a work session. So far, there have been just more than 500 court filings this year, compared to about 1,500 in 2019.

But many people are just one crisis away from losing their homes, Leabough said.

Thousands in Henrico were able to stay in their homes because of $17 million in emergency rental assistance funding from the state, which helped in administering the funds throughout the county, Leabough said. Overall, between July 2020 and Aug. 2022, Henrico (the sixth largest locality in Virginia) was second in the state in approved rental relief payouts from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (a total of $65.9 million distributed to about 13,000 renters).

“If you look at the ZIP codes, not one ZIP code that was served received less than a million dollars in support,” Leabough said.

In an effort to improve apartment living conditions, county officials have continued inspecting complexes, Leabough said. To date, they have inspected more than 175 apartment communities, representing more than 37,000 units, he said.

To improve quality of life, the county has used memorandums of understanding to outline necessary improvements in Hope Village, Henrico Arms, Newbridge Village, St. Luke, and Place One apartments. Leabough said renovations have been completed in three of the five communities, without displacing residents.

“These communities represent 17% of our 65 subsidized and affordable housing communities in the county,” Leabough said. “So we've touched a good portion of those communities with these MOUs.”

In those communities, the county also has made improvements through such additions  as health and wellness programs, educational skill building programming, fire safety, and grounds and playgrounds enhancements.

Another project Leabough highlighted was Cool Lane Commons, a former nursing home that has become the county’s first permanent supportive housing development for people with lower incomes or who have suffered from homelessness. Henrico County provided more than $500,000 to support the 86-unit project, Leabough said.

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During the work session, Leabough highlighted various houses (on which the county has made improvements) that will remain affordable housing stock through longtime subsidies. This included the River East subdivision off of New Market Road, where 12 of the 21 houses will be a part of a community land trust to protect their prices.

With these larger projects, donations from the community have been helpful, Leabough said.

Through partnerships with organizations such as project:HOMES, county officials have worked to complete major repairs, with everything from roof replacements to plumbing leaks, as well as for seniors with lower incomes.

Officials also have asked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make exemptions for local buyers who are struggling.

“A lot of times our buyers that we're trying to support are struggling to find houses that fall within that sales limit that HUD imposes,” Leabough said. “Recognizing that, we've gone back to HUD and asked for an exception because buyers are just not finding houses that they can purchase that fall within those programs.”

The market is challenging for people looking to buy or rent homes. Leabough pointed to gaps between average starting salaries or incomes and housing costs, saying that people even are struggling to find affordable one-bedroom units for rent.

“The other thing is that if they're paying or earning just what they need to make to rent, then they're not able to save that downpayment to be able to transition if they desire to have homeownership,” Leabough said.

Going forward, County Manager John Vithoulkas said he hopes that there are more partnerships with the private sector. Experts are identifying available resources and potential development projects, Leabough said, and officials are hoping to work with major employers and tackle development cost reduction.

Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton voiced concerns about gentrification, and Leabough told him that the county would analyze market values to see the areas prone to it and work to allow homeowners to stay.

When asked about different statistics usually associated with the benchmarks for “affordable housing,” Leabough said it depends on the household, but is usually measured by the proportion of income housing costs.