Two reports issued last week reveal that it's become increasingly difficult for low-income families to find housing.

The reports follow a January census count that found the state's homeless population is growing.

"A lot of these people are working," said Patrick Herlihy, director of the state Office of Housing, Homeless and Transportation Services. "A lot of it's a wage issue, a housing issue. There's a lack of affordable housing and a need for additional rental subsidies."

The state Department of Health and Human Services found in January 1,395 homeless people in the state, up from 1,081 last year. This census does not include statistics for Manchester or Nashua, which perform their own annual counts. In Rockingham County, the census found a total of 224 homeless persons, 94 of whom were classified as unsheltered.

The housing crunch is especially bad on the Seacoast, according to Chris Sterndale, executive director of Crossroads House, which provides emergency shelter and transitional services for the homeless in the region. The high cost of housing in Strafford and Rockingham counties has led many, including families, to seek shelter at Crossroads. In April 2004, the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment in eastern Rockingham and Strafford counties was $947, including utilities, according to data obtained Crossroads House. To afford that, someone earning minimum wage would have to hold more than three full-time jobs.

"It's not only causing problems for businesses, it is causing problems for families and individuals. There's not enough housing that people at the low end of the wage scale can afford," he said.

While the number of people Crossroads serves is up, Sterndale said it has not been a dramatic increase. In 2004, Crossroads sheltered 712 people, with an average of 87 people in the shelter on a given night.

"We're about even with last year," he said. "We had 97 folks here last (Thursday) and that's pretty typical."

The housing market in general is more competitive than it has been, making it even more difficult for low-income families to find a home, according to Dean Christon, deputy director of the N.H. Housing Finance Authority. The NHHFA was a sponsor of the New Hampshire Workforce Housing Council study.

"They are economically unable to find housing, and even if they have the financial wherewithal ... people who have a history of difficult credit ... are not well received as potential tenants," he said. "It's more difficult for them when competing in a market with people who have more substantial economic means."

Though the state's population boomed in the 1990s, Christon said the housing market failed to grow at the same pace. This shortfall, coupled with a resistance in many towns to low-income housing developments and apartment complexes, has left the state's workforce in the lurch.

Christon said many communities fear that a lot of residential development will increase the number of children in the school system and put a strain on municipal services.

"That perception is not always grounded in fact," he said. "A lot of the data produced already ... shows the kind of housing development that we've not been doing-smaller starter homes, apartments, two-bedroom rentals-actually produce less children than people think it does."

These kind of regulatory barriers to workforce housing were highlighted last week in Ossipee. The Strafford County Superior Court ruled that the town's zoning ordinances were restricting the development of low-income, affordable housing.

"We're suggesting the appropriate response is not ... to put up barriers to any kind of housing development because it's necessary to the economic development of the state," Christon said. "You can go about managing growth in a way that allows for a mix of different kinds of housing development."

Christon said his group is working to educate both residents and public officials in communities about the reasons behind the housing shortage, as well as to provide ideas for revised zoning regulations that are friendlier to low-income families. According to the New Hampshire Workforce Housing Council report, the workforce housing shortage is costing the state up to 2,800 jobs and $412 million in potential retail sales each year. In other words, people won't spend money or take jobs in the state if they can't afford to live here.

As the number of homeless individuals and families climbs, both Herlihy and Sterndale said state and federal funding for services is not meeting the increased demand.

The state Office of Housing, Homeless and Transportation Services releases an annual report each year that it uses to approach the state Legislature and the federal department of Housing and Urban Development for funding.

"In this climate, we're not going to get...the funding we need," Herhily said. "We need to come up with creative ways (to provide services)."

The state's homeless service providers receive about $3.1 million each year from HUD, with the state chipping in another $2.7 million, according to Herhily. HHTS also administers $1 million for housing security guarantees, which assist people with poor credit or rental history in obtaining housing. The office also administers another $1 million for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant, which is similar to the housing security guarantee.

"(The funding) is staying the same, maybe there's a little increase, but not in the same ratio to the increasing homeless population we're realizing in the state," Herlihy said.

As for Crossroads, the shelter receives a third of its funding from federal, state and local sources. Most of the communities in the Seacoast make contributions to Crossroads each year; however, Sterndale said he was recently notified Hampton would not be contributing any money this year due to budget cuts. While there's no danger of Crossroads turning people away this year, Sterndale said money is getting tight.

There are some positives, however. Sterndale said that rents in the region have leveled during the last few years. Though not decreasing, he said rents are not going up as fast, which means there is progress, however small. During the last five years, the median rental cost for a two-bedroom apartment in Rockingham County has gone from $842 to $1,046, according to data from the NHHFA. However, in the last three years, rental prices have hovered around the $1,000 range. The median cost for a house in Rockingham County in 2004 was $283,000, an increase from $180,900 in 2000.

"On the bright side, there's a U-Haul truck in the parking lot this morning as a family moves out to an apartment," Sterndale said.