WARMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — A nonprofit organization working to increase affordable rental housing in Bucks County has chosen a township duplex as its first site.
Angel Housing Solutions purchases, refurbishes, and converts properties into "permanently affordable rental housing for families in Bucks County," board member and co-founder, Kathleen Beveridge said.
The rental is a two-bedroom, one-bath home that will be subsidized by the other three units in the duplex. Each has a yard and its own laundry.
The home will be established for a single mother with two small children. The location of the rental property is being kept private to protect the new rental family.
Beveridge said the tenant pays minimal or no rent that increases "incrementally, as the tenant's finances grow more stable."
She said the remaining three units are rented at market rate.
Rents have risen by 12 to 15 percent in Bucks County every year since 2020, according to AHS's research, and the average monthly rent in the county is anywhere between $1,467 and $2,144 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to the Rentometer and Apartment List websites.
With approximately 80 families in Bucks County currently looking for affordable rental housing, AHS is proud to establish
Beveridge said that after a nearly two-year search, the organization chose Warminster because it is a "friendly place for people from different backgrounds, income levels and diversity."
She also said that "transportation is easily accessible with the SEPTA train station and numerous bus lines," as well as many activities for families with young children, including offerings by Warminster Parks and Recreation, the Warminster Library, the Warminster YMCA, and numerous childcare facilities.
Several Warminster Supervisors — including Mary Owens and Janice Charlton — said they were excited that AHS chose the township.
Charlton said there are numerous affordable grocery stores "within walking distance or easy transportation by bus" to the Speedway, York Road, and other neighborhoods.
AHS is partnering with the Bucks County Opportunity Council and Woodside Church in Yardley, both for recommendations of tenants in need as well as funding.
Pastor Doug Hoglund says Woodside has been involved with caring for its homeless neighbors for 17 years through Code Blue. But they want to assist families "without a home."
His church donated $71,000 to subsidize one apartment for a family for four years.
"We believe this is the beginning of a long-term relationship between our three organizations," the pastor said.
AHS was founded by Joe Baumhauer, Kathleen Beveridge, and Sophia Wisniewska in 2022, with the late Carol A. Baumhauer as the "angel" in Angel Housing Solutions, according to Beveridge.
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