Housing Affordability for America's Counties
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Housing America's Residents: The Role of Counties
Housing is one of the basic needs for healthy, safe and vibrant communities. Some research estimates a housing shortage of more than 3.8 million units across the country. County voices are instrumental in community planning, land use, zoning and enacting policies and other regulations that affect housing. In addition, many counties distribute federal relief for emergency rental assistance, evictions and foreclosures, and provide temporary housing solutions to individuals with disabilities, low-income populations, veterans and those experiencing homelessness. Though county leaders have varied authority in cultivating housing affordability, each county can play a role in the solution.
Housing America's Residents: The Federal-County Intergovernmental Nexus
Starting in the 1930’s, the federal government began providing housing assistance to lower-income households through the establishment of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) and promoting the construction of low-rent public housing through public housing authorities (PHAs). Today, most federal housing assistance programs are administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This brief provides an overview of the federal resources available to counties to address housing affordability.
Housing America's Residents: Finance, Lending and County Tax Policy
Investment – often a blend of financing, lending and county tax policy – is required to successfully develop new housing, maintain existing housing stock, and navigate housing support systems. There are four interrelated aspects of the county role in housing finance, including direct aid to residents, support to developers and community-based organizations, county tax policy and county revenue sources.
Housing America's Residents: Land Use, Zoning, Infrastructure and Community Planning
County leaders have a wide variety of levers and mechanisms within local planning and zoning to impact housing affordability. These solutions fall into five major buckets, including planning mechanisms, broad and specific zoning mechanisms, public land use considerations and infrastructure considerations. The best approaches will leverage a combination of these strategies.
Housing America’s Residents: Community Engagement, Education and Partnerships
Engaging with the community is essential to expanding housing options. Housing plays a vital role in building a thriving community, impacting aspects such as health, economic opportunity, safety, and resilience. While discussions about housing often revolve around numbers and finances, it's important to convey the significance of housing as a fundamental part of the community's foundation. Public involvement is essential in reshaping the dialogue on housing requirements. Counties can form cross-sector partnerships and leverage community engagement and educational practices to advance housing initiatives.
Housing America’s Residents: Regulations, Codes and Fees
Counties issue permits and enforce codes to regulate the development process and ensure safety. We also use housing regulations, codes and fees to promote affordable housing, as well as to fund public services and infrastructure for new developments. While land use and zoning focus on a broader jurisdictional level, local regulations, codes, and fees target the micro-level of individual developments, as well as residential and rental housing units.
Demand for housing has outpaced available supply in counties nationwide
County housing income to cost ratio compared to population trends from the Housing Solutions Matchmaker Tool analysis.
Housing America's Residents: The Role of Counties
Housing spans a wide range of touchpoints in many counties. Though authority may vary, each county can play a role in the solution. There are five key areas in which counties can use policy, administrative, financial or convening levers to foster housing affordability.
Archive of Housing Publications
Across the U.S., county residents are facing a crisis of housing affordability. Housing affordability becomes a problem when too many homes are developed outside of the purchasing power range of residents. As a result, potential homebuyers delay buying a house for years as they try to save for a down payment while repaying student loans and paying exorbitant rents. Low-income renters teeter on the edge of eviction and homelessness when a sudden job loss, unexpected expense or death hits the family. Housing affordability is a challenge that confronts all types of counties on the ground.
Across the country, the lack of affordable housing is severely impacting homeowners and renters. Increasingly, housing affordability is of major concern across all regions of the U.S. and throughout urban, suburban and rural communities. This issue effects everyone, including those who work for counties.
Residents across the country are increasingly burdened by rising housing and transportation costs, which are the leading drivers of affordability challenges.
Across the nation, county residents and county governments are struggling with housing costs. County governments are most explicitly linked to housing through property assessments and the collection of property taxes – their top revenue source – yet, they face a diverse set of challenges stemming from housing affordability issues.
Counties of all sizes and in all regions of the country are struggling with housing affordability.
Resource
Advancing Local Housing Affordability: NACo Housing Task Force Final Report
Podcast: Economic mobility at work
The Lake County, Calif. Food Policy Council is helping local farmers find new markets for their produce. Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier explains his county's agricultural background and his goals for the council and NACo's Alseta Gholston outlines economic mobility resources available to county officials.
Counties supplement child-care wages to address a broken market
Acknowledging that the funding model for the industry makes recruitment and retention a challenge, several counties are supplementing the wages of childcare workers.
Childcare means opportunities for economic growth
Lack of childcare options keeps would-be workers at home or at the very least, gives them an unpredictable schedule for work, both of which limit labor force participation and a county's economic growth.
Rural counties have options to bring childcare to their communities
America’s childcare crisis is exacerbated in rural communities, where local governments have limited funding and families have fewer options and farther distances to travel.
Senate Banking Committee advances bipartisan housing reform legislation
On July 29, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs unanimously advanced the bipartisan Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, representing a significant opportunity for counties to address housing challenges through expanded funding, streamlined regulations and new grant programs.
Counties fight child homelessness
Housing instability is undercutting the foundation for children’s development, and counties are trying to stem that tide with eviction prevention, rental assistance and youth-specific programming.