18-02-2025
Affordable housing advocates press lawmakers for change at Tennessee State Capitol
April Riddle's landlord stood on her porch with an ultimatum: Pay $250 more in rent per month, or get out in 30 days.
That happened about six years ago and it was a 25% hike for her and her son, who lived in Gallatin on a fixed income and couldn't afford the rent increase.
On Tuesday, Riddle joined a coalition of affordable housing and tenant rights advocates at the Tennessee State Capitol for the third annual "Day on the Hill for Housing and Homelessness." It was the first time an organized statewide coalition has officially presented policy recommendations to lawmakers.
The coalition includes Open Table Nashville, Tennessee Renters United, the Tennessee Solidarity Network for Housing and Homelessness, Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment, Memphis Tenants Union and the Greater Memphis Housing Justice Project. Several other grassroots organizations have signed on as supporters of the coalition.
Riddle's experience is a common one for Tennessee renters who have helplessly watched costs skyrocket over the past decade.
Navigating that rent hike sparked her passion for connecting people with resources like food, transportation and other essentials in times of need or financial insecurity. But for the tens of thousands of people struggling to pay for housing in Tennessee, Riddle said there aren't enough resources.
"Housing insecurity is something I'm passionate about because it hit my home," Riddle said. "I had to leave my home and move into a friend's basement. I came to understand there was a gap between the resources that were available and the need."
Gov. Bill Lee highlighted the skyrocketing cost of housing in his recent State of the State address before a joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly and proposed a $60 million Starter Home Revolving Loan Fund to incentivize building with 0% interest construction loans. He also suggested funding a 2024-approved housing tax credit for rural and workforce housing development.
Advocates argue that action around affordable housing has not encompassed both urban and rural communities though the crisis is dire statewide. The coalition intends to organize a united front to drive change forward.
"We're all Tennesseans," said Allie Cohn, of Knoxville. "The issues affect all of us, urban and rural. The housing market is unattainable for people in all parts of Tennessee."
Buying or renting a home in Tennessee has become significantly more expensive over the past 10 years.
One recent estimate found the cost of buying a home in Tennessee has increased almost 123% over the past decade, with cities Knoxville, Nashville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga and Memphis all seeing prices increase more than 100%. Around half of Davidson County residents are cost-burdened to afford rent, meaning they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on housing, according to Metro Nashville Social Services.
Mauri Pinckney, 25, traveled to the Capitol from Memphis to speak out about protections for tenants, which includes advocating for the Affordable Housing and Tenant Protection Act (HB0955/SB0961), introduced this year.
The rent-control bill would allow local governments to adopt ordinances and resolutions to limit rent increases for private residential rental units and create an increased housing program and housing fund. It would also authorize the Tennessee Housing Development Agency to make grants to eligible developers and first-time homebuyers.
Pinckney is a fifth grade science teacher who recently navigated the rental housing market on her own for the first time since graduating from college. Despite having a full-time, salaried position as a school teacher, finding safe and decent housing affordable for her income level was a challenge. She joined the Memphis Tenants Union after learning how solidarity between renters can help fight bad acting landlords in the rental market.
"A lot of people are trying to fix issues separately," Pinckney said. "But people come together, there's strength in numbers. It's better to have 400 people come together and say this is happening to all of us."
Another bill garnering support from homelessness advocates is the Free ID Bill (HB0788/SB1136), which would require the Department of Transportation to provide a person with a free photo identification license if the person attests they don't have a valid government-issued photo ID.
Allie Cohn, who works with Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment, said people living on the street or in encampments are at risk of losing identifying paperwork that's necessary to receive rental assistance, access emergency housing, healthcare and more.
"We're perpetuating living outside by not giving people the resources they need to prevent that," Cohn said. "In those situations when people are camping or living outside, sweeps of encampments happen. IDs are lost. If you don't have ID, you can't apply for a job, you can't apply for housing."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Affordable housing coalition lobbies Tennessee lawmakers for change
