FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FLORIDA HOUSING INNOVATIONS COUNCIL
December 14, 2023
Contact: Katherine O’Donnell
Phone: (561) 900-9717
Email: Info@FloridaHIC.org
Web: www.floridahic.org

NEW POLL SHOWS DELRAY BEACH, LAKE WORTH BEACH VOTERS OVERWHELMING SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS FOR LOW WAGE EARNERS

DELRAY BEACH, FL – New data released today by the Florida Housing Innovations Council (FHIC) shows voters in Delray Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida overwhelmingly support efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income individuals in their communities.

The study was conducted by nationally recognized polling firm, American Pulse, among 315 Active Voters* in Delray Beach from October 5-10, 2023, and 250 Active Voters in Lake Worth Beach from December 1-5, 2023. The polls also show that with full information, voters strongly support Multi-Tenant Housing Units (MTHU’s), an enhanced version of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing or rooming houses.

When asked about their agreement for efforts to increase affordable housing for low-income people, 80% of Lake Worth Beach voters Agreed, with 59% Strongly Agreed. In Delray Beach, the figures were also strong: 75% of voters Agreeing, with 50% Strongly Agreeing.

For the MTHU concept, respondents in each city were split into two random samples: one seeing “Limited” information on MTHU’s (they are similar to rooming houses and go for $600 per month), and the other seeing a “Full” set of information (they are similar to rooming houses, go for $600 per month, were implemented city-wide in Toronto, require rigorous background checks, and other elements). Support among the “Full” information sample was twice the support of the “Limited” information sample in both cities.

In Delray Beach, support metrics went from net opposition - 42% Support/48% Oppose (-6 Pts) with Limited information, to 70% Support/23% Oppose (+47 Pts) with Full information, a +53 Pt swing in favor.

In Lake Worth Beach, the results went from somewhat in favor with Limited info, 46% Support/43% Oppose (+3 Pts), to strongly in favor with Full information, 61% Support/30% Oppose (+31 Pt), a +28 Pt improvement.

FHIC President and Founder, Dr. Kurt Jetta commented on the results. “Given the checkered history of SRO housing, it is understandable that there would be reservations with bringing this model back. However, given today’s housing and affordability crisis and the significant advances in privacy and security technology, the new, upgraded MTHU model offers all of the benefits for meeting today’s housing challenges facing low-income residents and without any of the security or privacy concerns of the past.”

Jetta continued: “That’s why we’re pleased to see that the poll confirms what we’ve known and heard from the community all along – that the voters in Delray Beach and Lake Worth Beach see MTHU’s as a good thing. These results should give our policymakers the confidence to know that they are making the right and popular decision when they support affordable housing for low wage workers generally, and MTHU’s specifically, with the important caveat that the public must be educated about what they actually entail.”

A proposal to minimally expand the number of MTHU’s that currently exist in the City of Delray Beach has received letters of support or sponsorship from State Senator Lori Berman (D-FL), State Representative Mike Caruso (R-FL), State Representative Joe Casello (D-FL), Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward (R-FL) and Delray Beach City Commissioner Angela Burns.

The Delray Beach City Commission will hold a public Workshop on January 4, 2024 to review an MTHU proposal by Jetta Investment Company and sponsored by Commissioner Burns. A majority vote by the commission will begin the process for City staff to thoroughly vet a zoning change that would permit MTHU’s in Delray Beach’s Western Settler’s Historical District.

SRO housing is also receiving national attention. A recent article by famed New York Times opinion columnist Nicholas Kristoff entitled, “The Old New Way to Provide Cheap Housing”, focused entirely on the benefits of SRO’s, especially given the effects of historic inflation have had on communities struggling to stay afloat and seniors, who have seen a spike in homelessness. “There’s no one answer to America’s housing crisis, but I’d like to see local governments experiment by rewarding landlords for creating basement flats, taking in boarders or creating rooming houses. A major impediment is local zoning regulations, which sometimes limit how many unrelated people can live together in a house,” Kristoff writes. He concludes that “while sharing a bathroom and kitchen isn’t ideal, it’s so much better than living in a car.”

Established in 2023, the Florida Housing Innovations Council (FHIC) is a Florida Political Committee based in Palm Beach County, that supports local and state candidates and ballot initiatives that advocate for bold, innovative, and solution-oriented affordable housing options for low-income individuals.

*Active Voter defined as someone that has voted in the past four years.

Topline results are provided in the Appendix. A copy of the survey Crosstabs is available upon request.

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