Breaking up with a significant other is oftenWhen Katya Batishcheva had to find a new home earlier this year, she said, there just wasn’t a lot to choose from. She’s in the middle of a divorce. She said her relationship with her ex-husband had been rocky for a while, and it came to a head in the spring.
“Currently, I live in a studio that is under 400 square feet,” Batishcheva said. “And the base rent is like $1,200. But with all the utilities and pet rent fees, it’s like slightly short of $1,400.”Her higher monthly costs mean she has to budget differently to live in a much smaller space. Klouda said housing prices in Anchorage have risen 30% between 2019 and 2023. When you look at the rental market, he said, rents have spiked 5% in just the last year and, like Batishcheva found, there’s just not a lot available.
“I’ve brought my books, and I’ve brought some of my art stuff. I have furniture there, obviously,” she said. “But I would say I’m still not fully moved in. And I’m not sure when exactly that will happen. Because also my car broke. And it kind of complicates all of it.” Pearson said upwards of 99% of the women that AWAIC serves are low-income, and rising rental prices mean it’s harder and harder for them to find a place to rent. In some cases, AWAIC can offer housing vouchers, but they often require a steady income.
“Build more affordable housing,” Pearson said. “We need affordable housing, because right now, like I said, the landlords have the market and they are able to have their rates at whatever, you know, there’s just, there’s not a possibility.”