Beaufort Jasper Housing Trust urges county aid for repairs, seeks local tools to close housing gaps

Claude Hicks, executive director of the Beaufort Jasper Housing Trust, told the regional planning committee the trust is working to “create and preserve affordable housing” and urged local governments to consider new tools and funding to speed repairs and new construction.

The trust, a nonprofit regional consortium representing municipalities and counties, asked that Beaufort and Jasper counties consider dedicating a share of local real-estate tax receipts into a locally administered home-repair fund. Hicks said the trust has qualified for the state home-repair program and is proposing that “if you could just put county represent 20% of real estate sales and taxes going into that fund...we will put it throughout the [counties] to home repair needs.”

Why it matters: Hicks framed the request as part of a larger affordability crisis. He cited national and state statistics — including an estimate that the country needs 5.5 to 6.8 million more homes over the next decade — and described local cost burdens: he said roughly 57% of renters in the local MSA pay more than 30% of their income for housing. Hicks also described a state-level change to the low-income housing tax credit…