Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has declared a housing affordability crisis in South Florida.
On Friday, she announced that Miami-Dade has become one of the most unaffordable places to live in the United States. Rents in the county have jumped 30% in the past year, hurting working families and making it difficult for businesses to find and retain workers, she said.
“Skyrocketing rents are creating a massive burden on our families, workers, and local businesses,” Levine Cava tweeted before announcing that Miami-Dade will use $13 million from the federal government’s emergency rental assistance program to help residents experiencing rent hikes. This funding was a part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, enacted during COVID, which the mayor is moving to her Building Blocks program.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava
Residents with an income below 80% of the county’s annual median income are eligible. That includes individuals earning less than $50,650, couples earning less than $57,650, families of three earning less than $65,100 or families of four earning less than $72,300. Valid notice of a rent increase from your landlord is required.
Mayors from the county’s 34 municipalities plan to meet soon to discuss solutions to the housing affordability crisis.
“Miami-Dade is where the American dream is in full swing, but over the past year, we have become one of the most unaffordable regions in which to live, stifling that opportunity for many and hurting our working families,” she said.
On March 17, 2022, Levine Cava, surrounded by community leaders, signed an ordinance that requires landlords to give at least a 60-day notice for rent increases above 5% and termination of month-to-month rentals.
A recent study showed that Miami-Dade isn’t the only place in Florida where rents have skyrocketed. When joined with the other two counties that make up South Florida, Broward and Palm Beach counties, rents in the Miami metro area jumped by almost a third.
In the past year, rents in Fort Myers jumped more than 31%; they’re up 28% in Tampa and rose more than 24% in Orlando, according to a report released last month from researchers at Florida Atlantic University and Florida Gulf Coast University.
“It’s clear that rent increases have become a major problem across Florida, threatening the livelihoods of middle-class consumers,” said Ken Johnson, an economist at FAU.
