Tampa's new Tenant Services Team helps people find affordable rent
TAMPA, Fla. - Finding an affordable apartment in Tampa can be a grueling and sometimes nearly impossible feat.
The City of Tampa is taking notice of the challenges and now launching a new Tenant Services Team to help prospective tenants and renters impacted by the affordable housing crisis.
Tampa has the 18th highest average rent at about $2,100, according to a recent study by FAU on rent affordability in the nation's top 100 housing markets.
The recently launched team will help people find housing information.
In general, people who spend more than 30% of their annual income on rent are considered "rent burdened" which means to live comfortably in Tampa you would need to make about $85,000 a year, but according to data from Zip Recruiter the average salary in Tampa is about $60,000.
It's why the City of Tampa is now taking action to help.
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"Sometimes there's not one place that has all the resources, and so we want to be that warm body that can help to connect them. Also figure out how we can get them to landlords," City of Tampa Housing & Community Development Director Kayon Henderson said.
The city's new Tenant Services Team will be a resource guide for renters. They will man the housing information line which was launched just last year amid the ongoing affordable housing crisis.
Even people who may have been evicted can get help from the Tenant Services Team.
According to the city, the help line answered more than 2,300 calls in its first six months. The team has also developed a database of landlords who are willing to accept tenants with a prior eviction.
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"Not all of them are saying that they don't have any of their rent. They're saying that I'm only $300 short. I'm only $500 short. So we do get a lot of calls of people that are just needing to get over that hump," tenant advocate Bianca Ferdinand shared.
They have a list of contacts of local rental assistance programs. For anyone struggling to find a unit in their budget, a landlord that will accept them or if you just have a housing related question Henderson says the team should be your next call.
People searching for affordable housing in Tampa have a new sources of assistance.
"Most of the calls are about rental assistance or utility assistance. We encourage people to call for exactly what they need so that we can help to get the resources to them," Henderson said.
The Tenant Services Team can be reached Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 813-307-5555.