MORGANTOWN – In July 2020, Patrick Bowen of Bowen National Research stood before Morgantown City Council with some alarming news in terms of affordable housing in the city.
Based on market research and a months-long needs assessment, Bowen reported that more than 98% of non-student, multi-family rental housing in the city was occupied.
The result, he noted, is just as you’d expect based on the law of supply and demand – higher costs.
At that time, more than 65% of renters in the city of Morgantown were either cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of their household income on housing, or severely cost burdened, meaning 50% of income went to housing.
The city had a critical need for extremely low-income rental housing, and high needs for nearly every other price point.
While the city hasn’t updated the needs assessment since 2020, it stands to reason those numbers haven’t improved.
Locally, the wait list for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers was 637 households in 2020. The list surpassed 1,100 households in 2025, prompting the Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority to close the list.
In its The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies said households and housing markets nationwide are facing an “ever-more-challenging environment.”
“High home prices and elevated interest rates reduced homebuying to its lowest level since the mid-1990s … And, despite an abundance of new apartments, high rents have left more people than ever cost burdened and have contributed to a sharp rise in homelessness,” the report stated, adding, “At the same time, federal housing support is lessening, creating uncertainty regarding the availability of crucial assistance programs.”
The takeaway, according to Harvard’s findings, is that “state and local governments will undoubtedly play a larger role in addressing record-breaking housing needs …”
The city of Morgantown is looking into how it can do just that, announcing two public information and input sessions this month. The sessions are tentatively scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Marilla Center and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Woodburn Community Complex.
Participants will have an opportunity to review highlights from the 2020 Housing Needs Assessment and review/comment on potential policies, programs and initiatives being considered to address attainable housing. Feedback from the public and other stakeholder groups will inform a report to be provided to Morgantown City Council by the end of March, according to the city.
In a September report before city council, Development Services Director Rickie Yeager laid out a list of potential initiatives the city could consider. They ranged from programs to assist first-time homebuyers to more flexible zoning considerations and development requirements to eviction prevention assistance, among others.
“We’re looking at things like first-time homebuyer programs, owner-occupied rehab – things like that, which are a little more high-level that are investments,” Mayor Danielle Trumble said. “But we’re also looking at a lot of zoning things, like the non-conforming use ordinance that was recently brought up. We have an accessory dwelling unit ordinance that’s being proposed. We’re looking at some zoning reform and some inclusionary or incentivized zoning. So, things like that could help bring prices down or at least make development easier. That’s what we’re interested in getting feedback on.”
The lack of affordable housing in the city either forces households out of the market or into situations with burdensome costs, creating a domino effect across the market.
“We talk a lot about the missing middle. Our missing middle is there because we lack lower cost units right now. A lot of people are using housing vouchers to help pay for units that are above what their normal ability to pay would be,” Trumble said. “I think addressing affordable housing in Morgantown is kind of like a pressure valve, right? There are multiple ways to relieve that pressure, but there’s no one fix-all. We have to be able to take a multifaceted approach.”
Housing affordability: A term that describes the general affordability of housing and associated housing costs like utilities, insurance and transportation. The term “affordability” refers to the total cost of housing as a percentage of gross income. Housing is considered affordable when it does not exceed 30% of gross income.
Affordable Housing: A type of housing that is constructed to supply a community with housing units that are deemed affordable. Affordable housing units may limit ownership or rental to certain income levels. Generally, these units are available to households that earn less than 80% of the area median income.
