While families wait years for affordable homes in Richland County, an agency charged with providing that housing owns more than 100 houses that sit empty — many deteriorated to the point that they require extensive repairs before anyone can live in them.
Why the homes have been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair during a countywide affordable housing crisis is unknown. The Columbia Housing Authority’s new CEO Jessica Anderson-Preston could not answer a series of questions posed by The State newspaper during a recent interview, citing her short tenure with the authority that began in January. The 109 homes represent nearly 40% of the single-family houses owned by the Columbia Housing Authority, the agency that operates public housing and rental assistance programs for low- and moderate-income families in Richland County and Cayce, according to CHA data.
Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 applicants are on the waitlist for public housing, according to the agency’s data, some waiting years before securing a spot…