For six months, Rita Landrum waited for her name to rise to the top of a list for an opening at South Charleston’s Unity Apartments for low-income seniors.
Each week, she called and checked her spot, hoping for something to open up. The 78-year-old, living on a limited pension and benefits, had few other options.
“If it wasn’t for this housing, I’d probably be living with my sister and her family, or maybe with my son in Florida,” she said. “I couldn’t really afford to live anywhere else.”
When an apartment finally was available, she called it “a godsend.” Her rent is just $272 a month, and she said it’s given her independence back now that she’s well into retirement.
Across the state, rising home costs, aging homes and limited affordable options have forced more seniors into tough situations. Lawmakers have done little to confront the problem, except for handing out tax breaks to developers building expensive homes and apartments out of reach for many.
“Seniors need something that’s smaller, more accessible and more affordable,” said Daniel Eades, a housing researcher at WVU. “That’s not what they’re in, and it’s not what the market is providing.”
Eades said about a third of all West Virginian households were headed by seniors, with a majority of those on fixed incomes.
He said about 50,000 senior households are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
Landrum found one of the few federally subsidized housing units in West Virginia, where rent is limited to 30% of her income.
“I’ll die here, honey,” Landrum said. “This will be my last place I’m living, because I’m not planning on leaving this little place.”
A growing, aging housing crisis
West Virginia’s population is among the oldest in the country, with more than 20% of residents aged 65 or older. Many are living on fixed incomes and benefits that haven’t kept up with rising costs.
As the population ages, so does its housing.
The median age of a home in West Virginia is 46 years old, and many were built long before accessibility features like step-free entryways and first-floor bedrooms were common.
Nationwide, only about 40% of all homes are aging-ready, leaving much of the country’s and the state’s housing stock unsuitable for aging adults.
People like Patricia Hagerich try to make aging homes livable while on limited incomes. She has spent years holding on to her Buckhannon home, built in 1946.
She’s had her roof repaired, her hot water tank replaced and her driveway redone.
But years of unreliable contractors and deferred repairs have taken a toll: a broken window covered in plastic, no gutters and a furnace she hasn’t used since it nearly caught fire.
After more than three decades of working at Walmart, Hagerich thought she’d finally be able to slow down. Instead, the 59-year-old is rethinking whether she can afford to stop working.
Her pension would total $1,200 a month, and it isn’t nearly enough to cover bills, maintenance and put food on the table.
“I’ve worked for a very long time to be able to retire, but it’s not going to happen,” she said. “There’s no way I can do the upkeep.”
Even when newer homes are available, they’re often out of reach.
In 2023, the median home listing price in West Virginia was $230,000, while the median household income for seniors was around $45,000. Housing costs have continued to rise, leaving few options for older residents hoping to buy or downsize.
And for renters with lower incomes, the shortage is just as stark. Seniors make up a quarter of renters in the “extremely low-income” category — those living at or below the poverty level.
For every 100 extremely low-income renter households, only 58 affordable units are available. West Virginia would need to build at least 25,000 more affordable rental homes, requiring both federal and state investments to accommodate them.
Few options for low-income seniors
There is no statewide housing program designed specifically for low-income seniors.
State lawmakers have focused on the state’s housing crisis by funding a program to build expensive homes and apartments. They’ve invested over $200 million in 29 projects across 13 counties identified as the fastest-growing in the state, leaving smaller communities behind.
By contrast, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds a national housing program to help seniors find housing, and those are the only public developments in West Virginia.
The HUD program offers government-subsidized housing for adults 62 years and older who earn less than half of an area’s median income.
The West Virginia Human Resource Development and Employment organization operates 17 living facilities that accept seniors through the HUD program. It oversees about 800 individual units statewide.
Claudette Karr, the company’s executive director, said federal funding has dwindled over the past few decades, leading to longer waiting lists for their properties. Some units have up to 10 names on a list.
With less funding, the company is limited to building fewer units despite the rising need for senior housing.
“Anybody who needs housing this month, next month, in a week, or if something horrible happens,” she said, “you’re in trouble. It’s really not available.”
She said she’s never sure what to tell the applicants on waitlists about how long they will be waiting.
“It’s hard to estimate,” she said. “The sad reality is that it would depend on whether or not someone moves or passes away.”