Pennsylvania is facing a drastic housing shortage, forcing people to scramble to rent and struggle to find any avenue to homeownership.

State and local officials say they are working to meet the need.

Pennsylvania is short more than 100,000 housing units, and nearly 60 percent of homes were built before 1970, according to the governor’s office.

Meanwhile, the number of renters in Pennsylvania has grown by nearly 200,000 households since 2010 — even as the supply of low-cost rentals has declined.

The 2024-25 budget included $85 million for the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation and Enhancement fund.

Since Gov. Josh Shapiro took office, PHARE-funded housing projects have increased by 55 percent and over 1,000 projects have been funded to build or repair more than 8,200 housing units.

“Safe, affordable housing is a key foundation for opportunity,” Shapiro said in a statement. “If we want kids to succeed in school, if we want people to work and build a better life, they need a place to call home. That’s why we’ve nearly doubled the amount of funding available for PHARE — the largest, most flexible, most effective tool we have for building and repairing affordable housing.”

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency will host a 90-minute informational webinar at 10 a.m. Tuesday for organizations interested in applying for PHARE funds. The webinar will be recorded and made available online for people who can’t watch the event live.

Applications for PHARE funding must be submitted online through PHFA’s portal at https://phare.phfa.org/ by 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Senate Democrats held a hearing in Pittsburgh Wednesday to collect testimony for local housing officials about worthwhile efforts to expand access to affordable housing in the region.

Rich Stephenson, executive director of the Allegheny County Housing Authority, described efforts to use HUD vouchers to help people pay their mortgages after they buy homes rather than renting. The housing authority has been able to acquire homes and then, instead of renting the properties to tenants, they re-sell the residence to the occupants.

“What do we do? Oh, we go buy another house in that community for the next person who’s ready. Now that house is back on the real estate tax rolls, paying taxes to the distressed community, which is what they desperately need,” Stephenson said.

Helping renters become homeowners is better for the community and better for those families living in them, he said.

Ed Nusser, director of housing strategy in the Office of Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, discussed the county’s 500 in 500 campaign to provide housing for 500 homeless people in 500 days.

“That’s light speed for affordable housing,” Nusser said. But the county is on track to hit the goal, he said.

“Oct. 19th will be Day 500. We have already housed more than 500 people in 359 apartments.

We’ve got 29 leases that are currently in process, 37 more units pledged to the effort, and over 70 more are under construction right now.”

Nusser said 98% of the people provided housing through the initiative have remained in their homes.

“They have not re-entered the homelessness system in the last year and a half,” Nusser said. “I think that’s a testament to myth busting, and the perceptions that too many people have about our unhoused neighbors.”