Transcript
Housing is hard to come by in Lafayette.
Hey, it’s Elliot Wade, your Community Reporter here at the Current.
Dozens are looking for new housing after UL booked up hotels to serve as student residences this fall.
The episode shows just how short the supply of housing is. Lafayette has one of the tightest rental markets in the country.
Because it’s so hard to find affordable places to live, families had turned to extended stay hotels. UL relies on apartments too to help meet growing demand for on-campus housing. With so many apartments booked up, they leased those extended stay hotels, displacing the residents.
It’s not clear where those residents can go.
Finding places that don’t require a month’s rent as a deposit, which is a huge financial hurdle, is really tough. And the waitlist to get housing assistance in Lafayette is years.
And UL reps say the university will have to continue to rely on hotels and apartments to fill out its housing portfolio. That’s going to put more pressure on housing availability near campus, where apartments are already booked up.
The housing issue isn’t unique to Lafayette, but critics say its lack of action is. Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans have all taken steps to finance local housing solutions.
And the cost of housing is a factor into why many young people in Lafayette look elsewhere to put down roots.
Have you had trouble finding a place to stay in Lafayette? Or have you had significant issues with the place that you’re in? Click the link in our bio and tell us about it in our housing survey.
Until next time, I’m Elliot Wade and this is Lafayette.