It’s only getting more and more expensive to rent in Alexandria.
In a webinar this afternoon, Alexandria’s Office of Housing spelled out the current state of evictions. Given that the vast majority of those evictions are caused by non-payment of rent, Mary Horner, division chief of the Landlord Tenant Division, noted that rental costs are continuing to rise.
The average rent for studio apartments increased by 9.3% this year. Rents increased by 7.3% for one-bedroom units, 8.2% for two-bedroom units and 8.1% for three-bedroom units.
Additionally, the Office of Housing said typical monthly utility costs ranged from $100-$400.
There are approximately 43,000 renter households in Alexandria, accounting for roughly 57% of the city’s total households. Of those, 44% are considered housing cost-burdened—i.e., spending more than 30% of their total income on housing expenses.
Horner said data shows disparities in race and ethnicity in average household income as well. Black or African American households in Alexandria make an average of $78,942. The average Hispanic or Latino household makes $79,583. Meanwhile, the average non-Hispanic white household makes $145,083.
Katherine Key, from the City’s Office of Performance Analytics, provided a look at how eviction rates have risen back to pre-pandemic levels after a dip during Covid.
The city’s data goes back to 2017 and shows that 518 evictions were filed in February 2020. By May, that number had dropped to 4.
“That’s when Virginia courts were closed for Covid,” Key explained. “In March 2020, nothing could be filed. No writs could be issued.”
The number of eviction writs rose up and down over the next few years based on the eviction moratorium and the eviction relief program, but started rising again once the relief programs expired.
Eviction filings rose to 583 filed in Oct. 2022.
“In what we consider post-pandemic… we’ve very much returned to pre-pandemic levels,” Key said.
The top filers in Alexandria are:
- Bridge WF II VA Mason Van Dorn LLC, owner of Mason at Van Dorn Apartments: 158 evictions filed
- Equity Residential Management LLC, which owns several apartment buildings around Alexandria: 137 evictions filed.
- ELME Alexandria LLC, owner of Elme Alexandria: 127 evictions filed
The webinar is part of Housing 2040’s Education Month, raising awareness for the start of an update to the Housing Master Plan.
