- Arie True-Funk
- May 4, 2023
- 1 min read
In 2021, Iowa had the second highest homeownership rates in the country following only West Virginia (Urban Institute, 2021). Our state offers lower cost of living, and Des Moines was named the 14th best places to live by U.S. News.
Unfortunately, not all groups are able to access homeownership at the same rate as white residents. Non-white Iowa residents have much lower homeownership rates as shown in the figure. Only 39.0% of Black households in Polk County own their homes compared to 72.1% of White households. A higher share of Polk County Black households are homeowners compared to the rest of the state at 32%. Other non-White households have higher rates of homeownership in Polk County with 41.6% of Hispanic households and 58.9% of Asian or Pacific Islander households.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund partners with community organizations such as HOME, Inc., Neighborhood Finance Corporation, and the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity to help households reach their goal of homeownership. These organizations, together with many lenders and others, recently contributed to an affordable homeownership guide available for download here. It details many of the free, confidential services available to help community members overcome barriers to owning a home.
Arie True-Funk is PCHTF's director of research and planning. She periodically shares key insights about local housing data here on PCHTF's blog. Have a housing topic you'd like to see us explore in a future post? Leave a comment below with your suggestion or idea.
- PCHTF
- Apr 12, 2023
- 2 min read
As we speak with the community about the need for housing options people can afford, we’re often asked, “So how much housing do we really need?”
Today the Polk County Housing Trust Fund is making available a new report that gives one answer: About 11,635 additional units of rental housing are needed that would be affordable and available for extremely low-income people living in Polk County. To be considered Extremely Low Income in our area, a person or family is trying to get by on around $25,000/year or less.
But where does that number come from? And what does it really tell us?
To arrive at that estimate, we use a methodology designed by our colleagues at the National Low Income Housing Coalition to produce their annual report called The Gap. Overall, this method uses U.S. Census data to compare the number of low-income renters to the number of housing units in our community they can afford.
Pretty quickly, this data reveals two key problems:
First there is an absolute shortage of rental homes that are affordable to extremely low-income renters. In Polk County, that absolute shortage is about 8,600 units.
Then there is a second problem: About half of the rental units that could be affordable for an extremely low-income household are instead occupied by people with higher incomes. This squeezes out the most vulnerable people and leaves them living elsewhere, often paying rents they struggle to afford.
Adding those two issues together is why we say there is a significant shortage of rental housing (11,635 units) that is both affordable and available for extremely low-income people and families. The consequences of this problem are severe.
One note: The Census data we use to complete these calculations lag somewhat behind current trends. Our current calculations are based on pre-pandemic 2019 data. We will update our report as new information becomes available.
Over two-thirds of these extremely low-income renters are paying more than half of their income in rent. That puts the health and safety of these people and families at risk and can even leave them one unexpected major expense away from serious financial peril including homelessness.
You can download our complete white paper to learn more about this local data.
So what do we do about it? This data is why the Polk County Housing Trust Fund specifically tries to help fund rental units that will be affordable for extremely low-income people earning at or under 30% of what’s typical in the area. They are the people and families struggling most to find a place to live. Here’s recent media coverage about efforts to provide this income restricted housing in Greater Des Moines:
Federal housing programs are also key to assisting these most vulnerable families – especially forms of assistance like the section 8 program that ensures rent will be affordable for people and families based on the amount they earn.
Our community’s need for housing is multifaceted and people with higher incomes can also find themselves in conditions where their housing is unaffordable. In addition, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund helps with several other housing challenges, such as funding owner-occupied repair programs so that low- and moderate-income people who do have a place to live are able to safely remain stably housed.
We will keep working so people and families have the housing choices and stability they need.
- PCHTF
- Apr 4, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: May 6, 2024
April 11, 2023, marks the 55th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the federal Fair Housing Act that banned discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing nationwide. Congress passed the act shortly following the tragic assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4 of that year. Many people credit organizing by Dr. King and his allies in Chicago in 1966 as laying the groundwork for what would later become this landmark federal act.
As it exists today, this federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. The federal prohibition against sex discrimination has been interpreted by the courts to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Across the Country, people gather honor the passage of these important protections by celebrating April as Fair Housing Month.
This year, PCHTF has been proud to partner with numerous others to encourage local proclamations honoring this anniversary. In addition to Polk County, the cities of Des Moines, Ankeny, West Des Moines and Urbandale all are lifting up April, 2023, as fair housing month.
The choice of these cities was intentional. Under Iowa’s own Civil Rights Act, these are the cities in our region that have their own civil or human rights commissions, made up of local volunteers who help provide training, education, and support to prevent discrimination locally. We honor the service of these volunteers in our community.
Similar to the federal law, the Iowa Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, and familial status. Iowa has a proud civil rights history that stretches back as far as examples like an initial civil rights law passed in 1884.Protections to Iowans have been revised and extended multiple times since.
Today, education, training and advocacy about fair housing remains an important priority for PCHTF and our people in across our communities to ensure the intent of these important laws is carried out. That is why the Trust Fund is supporting free public education for property owners and managers on Fair Housing law at our Landlord Forum event April 18.
Looking deeper, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund has produced a detailed history of discriminatory practices in our community that made these laws necessary. Our Redlining in Des Moines online experience is available at www.redliningindsm.com.
Iowans who feel they have experienced discrimination in housing may seek assistance (if Des Moines residents) from the City of Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Department or elsewhere from the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
While our community still has work to do to ensure housing opportunity for every person and family, looking back on this history reminds us that progress has been made. By renewing our commitment to fair housing practices, we are investing in our community’s future.