An important housing resource
The federal government has invested in affordable housing for more than six decades. Housing programs are complex and have frequently changed. But what has stayed the same is the need for these properties and the importance that they be well maintained to provide safe, stable homes our community can depend on.
Helping those most in need of stable homes
This housing is a critical resource to serve the most vulnerable, especially because many federally-backed properties offer or are compatible with additional forms of rental assistance.
Public benefits, private ownership
The vast majority of housing in our report is privately owned by for-profit or non-profit entities. Understanding those owners' needs and plans is important for maintaining regional supply.
A future in our hands
Affordability restrictions at most of these properties expire after a period of time. Unless we act, the supply of this much needed housing will shrink.
Housing programs in this project
We used records from the National Housing Preservation Database and other government and private sources to build a local database of federally-backed housing in Central Iowa (Polk, Dallas, and Warren Counties).
We started by adding four types of housing and plan on adding more over time.
What is not included in our report at this time?
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These properties are not a comprehensive view of all federally backed affordable housing, such as projects funded only by the HOME program or the National Housing Trust Fund, CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief) and others.
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Properties that have local affordability agreements, but not funding from the main federal sources we included.
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Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH), which is housing affordable to low- and moderate-income renters that is not part of any government program.
Every housing development has its own unique story.
Elsie Mason Manor
Downtown Des Moines
Developed by a local church with HUD funds; opened in 1981.
Renovated with Low Income Housing Tax Credits in 2014.
Offers 150 rent-assisted apartments for seniors age 62+ today.
Strategies for Supporting Preservation
Continued affordable housing development with local support is more important than ever.
Demand continues to outpace supply and current deregulation environment threatens to impact affordable housing development. Local entities must continue to use all available financing tools to incentivize development.
Collaborate to prevent loss of existing affordable units.
The preservation database should lead to action and preventive strategies by local stakeholders to extend affordability timelines and avoid project depreciation or exit.
Build upon, expand scope and reach of this preservation database.
This project is a starting point focusing on four major sources of federal assistance. In the future we will incorporate additional affordability programs and details about each property in a regional housing dashboard.
Focus on finding, creating, and advocating for funding streams.
Solutions require additional funding and financing mechanisms. Existing mechanisms are limited. Stakeholders advocate for the creation of new funding streams and also the expansion of existing sources.
Learn more about these strategies in the full report, available August 21.
About this project
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund's local preservation database is based on Central Iowa records from the National Housing Preservation Database, a project of the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation and the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and other sources of local housing data.