NLIHC Analyzes Hurricane Harvey Impact

NLIHC released a blog post that analyzes preliminary information about housing damage in Texas after Hurricane Harvey and registrants for assistance from FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP). At the time of the analysis, 872,848 registrants had applied for assistance, 50% of whom were renters. Forty-seven percent of these renters live in neighborhoods with a poverty rate of at least 20%, and 37% likely have incomes less than $25,000. Renter registrants were also more likely than homeowners to have already been cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their incomes on housing, prior to the storm. The blog notes that while homeowners have experienced a large share of home damage, many renters are likely to be of low socioeconomic status, detrimentally impacting their ability to cope with and recover from the disaster. NLIHC calls for an equitable distribution of long-term housing recovery funds.