Bellingham’s average rent has increased by 71.5% since 2015, largely due to an increased demand for housing. With an uncertain future for U.S. economics, there’s worry about the affordability of living in an area like Bellingham.
This is an especially significant problem for college students, many of whom don’t have the income necessary to find affordable housing in Bellingham. For years, property values and demand for rental units have increased, while drops have been virtually nonexistent.
Over the past few years, attempts have been made to quell rent increases. Statewide caps on rent hikes were put in place earlier this year, and Bellingham’s City Council has made attempts to minimize unaffordability. These changes have made very little impact on the city’s situation, however.
A major issue is that Bellingham has grown very consistently, yet the supply of housing hasn’t had time to catch up.
“You see bursts of construction activity, then it dies down and rents go up, vacancy rates go down, then developers come back into the market and start building more,” said Steven Bourassa, Director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. “Rents taper off, vacancy rates go up. You keep going through this cycle.”
When many jobs turned to remote work during 2020, employees were no longer required to live in larger cities for their jobs. Bourassa believes this explains the sudden pressure on Bellingham’s housing market throughout 2021.
“People who were able to work completely remotely said, ‘Okay, I’d rather live in a smaller city, but I want to live in a city with some amenities,’ so they pick a place like Bellingham,” Bourassa said.
Years later, property values are now beginning to settle, but that doesn’t mean rent is going back down. Due to the continuous demand for low-income rental units, it’s likely that rent will continue to rise steadily.
Students are feeling the effects of these prices. Some feel lucky just to be able to afford their current housing.
“I think it’s ridiculously expensive in Bellingham, especially for students,” said Ethan Secord, a second-year student. “Both on campus and off campus, it’s pretty ridiculous, the rent these days.”
Other students mentioned receiving financial assistance from their parents. While common, not everyone is able to rely on family for help.
Isabel May, a third-year political science major, believes that without assistance, she wouldn’t be able to afford rent.
“I don’t really know how people are affording housing while being a full-time student, if they’re not getting any help,” said May. “If I didn’t get the help I have from my parents, I don’t know… I already feel like I work too much for school.”
Even signing off on a lease can be difficult without someone to co-sign. Some rentals don’t allow tenants who don’t have previous rental history or a trustworthy cosigner.
“If you don’t have a cosigner, I think it’s way harder,” May mentioned. “You’re paying a lot of money for places that I would deem unlivable.”
Some students live on campus during their first couple of years, as the process of finding campus housing is intuitive when compared to searching for a house or apartment off campus.
Cam Urben, a second-year student living on campus, is worried about the process.
“Thinking about looking for housing next year and knowing that I’m going to have to share what will likely be a small space with a lot of people is stressful,” said Urben. “That’s sort of looming over me, I guess.”
There isn’t any one issue that has led to rent increases, but instead, a culmination of factors has built this unaffordable market. It’s unlikely that Bellingham will return to affordability, considering the situation.
“Between the combination of interest rates, supply, demand, construction costs, all these things are working against the development of new housing at a particular point in time,” said Bourassa, “there may not be much that a city can do.”
Liam Britt (he/him) is a second-year visual journalism major and opinion writer for The Front this quarter. Liam also writes for The Rage, a student-run magazine at WWU. In his time away from work, Liam enjoys going to music venues, skateboarding with friends and getting creative in the kitchen. You can reach him at liambritt.thefront@gmail.com.
