The town will give the Scarborough Housing Alliance $10,000 to conduct a study on the community’s affordable housing.

The study will investigate a number of aspects relating to affordable housing, including low-income demands in Scarborough, the housing stock’s age and condition, housing income, vacancy rates for apartments and rental costs.

What exactly will be studied has not been finalized until Tom Guter, Scarborough’s human resources manager and staff liaison with the Affordable Housing Alliance, completes the study description, which will be sent to prospective bidders.

The purpose of the outside study is to see if there is anything the committee may have missed during its review of the affordable housing situation in town. Guter said there is a sense from the board that there is not much in terms of affordable housing in town.

“We believe we have a pretty good idea of what the circumstances and needs are in Scarborough,” Guter said, adding that there may be something the committee has overlooked and it wanted to make sure before bringing any formal recommendations forward. “When you have high property values, it really makes the ability to provide affordable housing that much more difficult.”

The alliance has defined affordable housing as “decent, safe and sanitary living accommodations that are affordable to households.”

In terms of costs the alliance has said that an owner-occupied housing unit is affordable if the monthly housing costs do not exceed 30 percent of the household’s gross monthly income and the household’s gross income would be 120 percent of less than the median family income in the Portland area, as reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For renters the monthly figure also is 30 percent and the household’s gross income would be 80 percent or less than the area’s median family income.

Current figures indicate that the median income for a family of four in the Portland area is $62,700. A family of four will eligible to rent affordable housing if they earn less than $50,150 and are eligible to buy if they earn less than $75,240.

To qualify as “affordable,” the housing costs for a renter must be no more than $1,254 while a home must be no more than $1,881. That amount includes all utilities, insurance and all other costs associated with the home.

Guter said the study request might be ready as early as Friday, but due to a vacation, may have to wait until April 25 for finalization.