How Iowa Can Commit to Affordable Housing
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Monday, September 9, 2019
Iowans’ Ideas: Guest columns featuring the views of different Iowans in each edition of Iowa Ideas magazine.
By Stephanie Preusch, NFC Executive Director
Housing studies continue to report that we are not building enough affordable and workforce housing to meet the needs of our communities.
The Comprehensive Housing Needs Update completed in December 2018 by Maxwell & Associates found that 794 affordable rental units need to be developed in the Cedar Rapids metro area from 2019 to 2024 to meet the increased housing need.
The Des Moines Downtown Workforce Housing Study in 2018 found Polk County will need to add more than 16,000 new owner-occupied units priced at below $175,000 in the next 20 years.
This new demand does not address the more than 20,000 renting households in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines that currently are severely or moderately cost-burdened — paying more than a one-third of their household income on rent.
Similar numbers have been reported across Iowa.
What if a significant commitment to homeownership was made to work with families with a dream of homeownership, combined with renovating and building homes affordable to low- and moderate-income households? Read the full article here . . .
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