Severe housing costs are associated with deep health and social costs for communities, according to the 2019 Rankings. Across counties, as the share of households experiencing the burden of severe housing costs increases, there are more children in poverty, more people who don’t know where their next meal will come from, and more people in poor health.
Policy and Practice Solutions
Housing policy, including discriminatory practices such as redlining, has historically influenced place-based inequities. Today, equitable housing policy and practice can be powerful tools for giving everyone a fair shot at a safe, secure, affordable place to live that promotes their health and well-being. We must keep in mind, however, that there is no single solution to high housing costs. Every community must look at the challenges in their neighborhoods and address the most pressing needs. Some places to start include:
- Building and preserving affordable homes and strengthening neighborhoods in ways that engage community members in local decision-making and avoid displacement of longtime residents.
- Connecting families to resources for affordable housing, like vouchers for low-income households.
- Increasing housing stability and reducing the risk of homelessness by ensuring basic needs are met and improving access to social services.
- Enforcing fair housing laws.
We’ve seen such approaches work in places like the 24:1 Community in North St. Louis County, Missouri. The community came together across sectors to make affordable housing a priority. Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of the neighborhood development group Beyond Housing, estimated that the 24:1 Community lost six or seven percent of its 15,000 households during the 2008 foreclosure crisis and had not rebounded since then. In a place where more than nine in 10 of public-school students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch and the unemployment rate was three times the county norm, a lack of affordable housing was a major issue. The majority of residents were renters, subject to a lack of stability and risk of homelessness when faced with high rents and low incomes.
Owning a home is an important vehicle for families to build wealth for their children and grandchildren, but we know from the Rankings data that not everyone has had a fair chance to pursue this valued American dream. The nationwide rate of homeownership for white families is 20 to 30 percent higher than the rate for families of color.
So the 24:1 Community sought to make affordable home ownership possible, and build wealth to create stability and opportunity across generations. In their innovative, comprehensive approach, residents own their homes, but lease the land, which is owned by a nonprofit land trust. The houses stay affordable because the trust controls the price owners receive when they sell. Buyers receive financial and homeownership counseling before they buy and supportive services after they sign the contract. There are early signs of success with increased stability for 98 percent of Beyond Housing families with school-aged children. And since the initiative launched, youth obesity has declined in the community, and the child poverty rate has come down significantly.
The Rankings release provides a timely opportunity for every community to have its own conversations and come to the solutions that will work best there. If you’d like to learn more about policies your community could implement, resources abound, such as Local Housing Solutions from the NYU Furman Center and What Works for Health from County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.
Many sectors—private developers, health systems, philanthropy, advocacy and citizen organizations, and local governments—will need to work together on comprehensive approaches to make safe, secure and affordable housing available to all. Because we cannot thrive as a nation when the factors that contribute to good health are available to some, but denied to others.