Roughly 200 people in Nashville, Tenn., already approved for apartment or single-family housing vouchers can’t readily make the long-awaited transition into some of the city’s Section 8 units due to unavailable housing, a local news station reported.
The issue partly centers around a lack of space as well as a lack of interest from prospective landlords, according to a local CBS News affiliate. Wait times have also been a factor, with some approved applicants unable to move in for eight months or more.
Other problems have been attributed to the pandemic, during which tenants haven’t paid rent up to a year and applicants who have tested positive for drug use, the affiliate reported.
Nevertheless, one developer, Waddell Wright of W. Wright & Company, believes part of the problem lies in Nashville’s popular real estate market.
“I think it’s just the market. There’s not enough properties out there to be had,” Wright, who likes the voucher program because of its guaranteed monthly payments, told the affiliate. “We’re a tourist city. And every weekend there’s planes full of people coming to party and drink and listen to music. That’s competing with a lot of our housing stock.”
