A Regional Call To Action
It is estimated that over the next five years, the Augusta-Aiken region will experience demand for housing that exceeds 17,000 new units. This level of demand would represent a roughly 43% increase in the region’s housing production were it to adequately address this demand forecast. At the heart of this increase in housing demand is a powering up of the region’s economic engine. Significant growth in regional employment has already occurred at Fort Gordon, the Savannah River Site and across the region with the expansion and relocation of numerous industrial facilities and is expected to continue to grow over the next five years and across the next decade. More job opportunities in the region equate to more in-migration to the region, more households and the need for more housing units across the full spectrum of housing types and price points.
The region’s projected shortfall of more than 5,000 new housing units over the next five years (when compared to the previous five years) is not a problem that will resolve itself. It is also a problem that cannot reasonably be expected to be addressed adequately without regional cooperation between all eight counties. Housing underproduction, and the resulting state of housing shortage not only makes housing less accessible and more expensive for legacy households and regional in-migrants but also threatens the region’s ability to retain its workforce, reduces its overall economic competitiveness and is deleterious to the fiscal health of the region’s counties and cities.
The following links will take you to the the full housing study and a summary of the housing study. If you have any questions please email robbie.bennett@srscro.org.