Myrtle Beach has an affordable housing crisis. SC lawmakers could help fix it

If you have driven around the Grand Strand, you’ve seen the enormous growth taking place here. Horry County is in fact in the top ten fastest growing counties in the entire country. People from all over the country are moving here for our low cost of living, our beautiful weather, and our incredible beaches.

With this sudden influx of people, the demand for housing in our area has gone through the roof. We are currently in the middle of a housing crisis across our state, but particularly here in Myrtle Beach.

The housing shortage affects everyone. Employers in the area are affected because our workforce has limited housing options. Our senior and veteran communities, most living on fixed incomes, have limited options. And our low-income residents are left with few options for housing. Across the spectrum, people feel the squeeze from our limited supply. There are nearly a quarter of renters in our state (24%) that currently pay half their income or more just for housing!

If you’ve been to a local restaurant lately, you’ve likely had to wait to be served — not for a shortage of tables or space, but because restaurateurs can’t find enough staff. If you’ve been involved in a construction project, you’ve experienced delays finding a qualified builder — not simply because of supply chain issues, but because they can’t find enough workers. This is a direct result of our limited supply of affordable housing.

This will likely be exacerbated by our peak season this summer. As everyone comes to visit our beaches and pack our restaurants, our workforce is crowded out. The increased load on our housing market makes prices soar for our busy months, but our workers bear the brunt of this lack of choice and our employers lose revenue because of the lack of workers.

The housing shortage also makes life harder for our seniors, veterans, and those on fixed incomes. Affordable options are critical for those living on fixed incomes. With limited choices and fixed incomes, seniors and veterans are often left facing hard decisions when housing becomes unaffordable. The federal government’s cost of living adjustments can’t keep up with inflation, supply chain issues, and soaring housing costs.

As we address this problem locally by adding to our supply, we need help from the South Carolina General Assembly. Currently, there is legislation that would cap South Carolina’s affordable housing development tax credit program. This essentially will cut off the faucet on investment across our state, but particularly in our region where it has become too expensive to invest in affordable stock. This bill would curtail investment in South Carolina and further tighten our market in the middle of a boom for the whole Southeast.

Keeping, and expanding the tax credit, is a good investment for taxpayers too. For every $1 that the state of South Carolina invests in affordable housing tax credits, $5 is realized in economic activity. That’s a better return than almost anywhere else our state can choose to use your tax dollars.

We need this investment in South Carolina, but particularly here in Myrtle Beach. As our legislators in Columbia consider a bill of such importance, I hope they’ll remember who it’s about: our veterans, our seniors, our workers, and our children.

This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 1:58 PM.