Brunswick County has been accumulating promises from developers for workforce housing as plans for thousands of new homes make their way through the county's development pipeline.

According to Brunswick officials, the county's planning staff last year helped negotiate for more than 260 single-family homes to be designated workforce housing in proposed planned developments.

The county added another 90 houses to that list when its planning board on Monday approved a plan for 1,800 single-family lots on 642 acres. The development site is located near Ash on N.C. 130.

Ninety homes out of 1,800 might not seem like much, said Cliff Cheek, chairman of the Brunswick County Planning Board. "But I look at it as a great start to a situation to help curb a need that is starting to become more of a growing concern in our community," Cheek said.

That concern in the case of these planned developments, he said, centers around not low-income housing but homes "that would be affordable for a younger family or someone who's on a little bit more of a fixed income or who might just need some help with the cost of homes here now. ... We're really hopeful that a lot more developers will start to take it on."

The other hope is that the workforce units can stay affordable for people who earn below 80% of the median income in Brunswick County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Brunswick County from 2019 to 2023 was a little over $74,000.

"Deed restrictions are one possible method to ensure long-term affordable housing requirements can be met," said Meagan Kascsak​​​​, the county's communications director, in an email Thursday. "However, Brunswick County recognizes that each project is unique. The county is open to other proposals or alternatives from the developers of these projects so long as the agreed upon affordable units are provided." 

Meanwhile, the median price of homes continues to increase. According to the Brunswick County Association of Realtors, the median price in Nov. 2024 was $374,000.

It's difficult to calculate appropriate home prices for different income levels because of all the variables, from credit scores to down payment amounts, that go into the equation. However, according to digital banking and lending company SoFi, "one rule of thumb is that the cost of your home should not exceed three times your income." Or, in the case of Brunswick County's median income, a little over $220,000.

For one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and nation, that kind of math could keep adding up to a bigger problem. 

"As we're growing, we have the services that are going to be needed whether it be people working in, say, a restaurant or in medical facilities or bus drivers. ... We need those services and people to provide those services for the growing population," said Cheek, who is also a Realtor in Brunswick County. "But if the people that are doing those services can't afford to live here, they're going to essentially go somewhere else to live, and then who's supporting the growing population?"