There is actually a glut of rental units
4-2-2024
Open Letter to
Mayor Williams and Councilmembers:
Last night, again, the council approved major residential construction in the beleaguered southeast Durham area. A current resident pointed out that existing apartment buildings had low occupancy refuting any need for even more large rental projects. VM Middleton later seemed to question the occupancy claim.
Below are two statements from the real estate and building industry which show that there is not only no shortage of rental units in Durham, there is a sustained glut in the market. With the already built multi-family projects there is currently a 9.5% vacancy rate without counting 5,665 units under construction. Of course, this does not count the thousands more units that have been approved but are not yet under construction.
As the Triangle Apartment Association representative testified at last year’s Deep Dive into Affordable Housing, a 3% vacancy rate is ideal and a 4% rate signifies more supply than demand. 9.5% is irrefutably an excess of available housing.
Whatever your rationale for approving more mass development and allowing the horrendous destruction of our environment, including our critical waterways and woods (our best answer to climate change), please eliminate the false narrative of housing need. There are far more housing units currently available and under construction than Durham will need for twenty years.
Sincerely,
Katie Ross
Save Durham 