CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- "I live off-Grounds, it was a lot cheaper for me to move off-Grounds by a few hundred dollars a month," wrote a University of Virginia student who asked to remain anonymous in a text.

Under UVA policy, first-year students have to live on-Grounds, but most move to surrounding neighborhoods for their second year and beyond because of the cost.

City Councilor Michael Payne, who advocates for more affordable housing in the city, has seen the tendency.

"I think there is a number of reasons, the largest of which though is UVA has never built sufficient on-campus housing to house their student body, which grows every year as well by about one percent," he said.

He says students gravitate toward neighborhoods like Fifeville and 10th and Page.

"Now that I've lived off Grounds for a year, I'd never live in a dorm again," wrote the student.

The issue is, with more students moving off-Grounds, the less housing supply there is. That is driving prices and demand up as well as pushing locals out.

"Those are the neighborhoods where we are seeing gentrification and displacement, and people in some cases who have lived in Charlottesville for generations and want to stay here can simply no longer afford to do so," said Payne.

A recent housing report performed by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission supports Payne’s claims.

"I think it speaks to the disparities in our local housing market, our local economy, how our pattern of economic development hasn't been trickling down to benefit everybody," said Payne.

He goes on to say that more than half of renters in Charlottesville are cost-burdened, which means more than 30 percent of their income goes to rent.

"It’s nothing we didn't know, but it's striking to see it in writing, the level of disparity and housing pressures," said Payne.

In 2019, UVA came out with a new strategic plan. In it are goals that would make UVA a “great and good” university. To meet these goals the university has ten key initiatives, one of which focuses on providing mandatory, on-Grounds housing for second-year students.

"There's that commitment, but we'll have to see what actually gets built. They said they are exploring building more on-campus housing for UVA students, especially second and third years. But, again, nothing has been done so far," Payne said.

As a public, non-profit university, UVA also doesn't pay property tax. Payne thinks that as it continues to buy land in the city, it creates a problem when it comes to the local housing market.

"Which creates a double problem of removing land that could be used for housing for residents and it also means as they expand the city loses more tax base," he said.

According to Payne, UVA doesn't pay taxes on 95 parcels with an assessed value of $1.6 billion. That means the city loses $15 million in tax revenue.

UVA President Jim Ryan announced at the end of 2021, the university has plans to help mitigate the affordable housing crisis in Charlottesville. But Payne says their contributions won't do too much.

"They have made a commitment to donate land to build housing at three locations, but they have said they don't plan to spend any money," he said.

He says it should happen and it would take pressure off some of the real estate market. However, more university housing complexes built in the city would still mean no property tax.

UVA says it is making progress though.  In a statement, a university spokesperson says the university has received input from the community regarding affordable housing. The next step will be the selection of development partners for two of the three sites Payne mentioned.

Those sites are near Fontaine Avenue, the corner of Wertland and 10th streets, and parts of North Fork, a UVA discovery park, in 29 North.