Affordable housing is expensive to build–and that means construction is happening far too slowly to meet demand. In Atlanta, a startup called PadSplit is adding new affordable units more quickly by reusing rooms in single-family homes instead. Rather than building new buildings, PadSplit works with property owners to fix up the houses to a certain standard, and then PadSplit helps them add walls to create new rooms–if there’s a formal dining room or an extra den, for example, those will be converted into bedrooms. Then the company screens potential residents and rents out each room, including utilities, internet, and laundry, for around $550 a month. For a property owner who might have been renting the whole house for $1200, it’s a way to make more money. For renters, it’s a way to save; the average PadSplit member makes only $21,000 a year and saves $460 by renting through the startup. What’s more, PadSplit’s system works without any subsidies, proving that affordable housing is possible, even profitable at a time where the private market is short of options for people with lower budgets. With a deficit of over 7 million affordable homes nationwide, PadSplit offers a solution that can be implemented immediately.
This startup creates new affordable housing—without constructing new buildings
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