On NLIHC’s most recent (August 1) national call for the “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, Affordable Housing” campaign, we provided brief updates from Capitol Hill, learned about NLIHC’s upcoming webinars, heard from Gene Sperling of the White House, discussed key findings from NLIHC’s new report, Out of Reach 2022: The High Cost of Housing, and received updates from our End Rental Arrears to Stop Evictions (ERASE) project and other partners in the field. View a recording of the call at: tinyurl.com/ye2acbdx
NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel shared a brief update from Capitol Hill, invited attendees to attend the week’s events, and announced new joint webinars with the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). With budget reconciliation moving forward in the Senate, it seems likely the “Inflation Reduction Act” will not address skyrocketing housing costs and dwindling housing supply. Diane emphasized that congressional inaction could lead to devastating results. NLIHC is calling on the Biden administration to take immediate steps to protect the lowest-income renters. On August 2, Diane testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to discuss the critical investments necessary to protect extremely low-income (ELI) renters and increase housing supply (see this week’s Memo article on the hearing). Lastly, Diane announced an upcoming four-part webinar series on homelessness and Housing First. The four webinars will take place at the same time as the HoUSed campaign’s calls. The first call of this new series will be on Monday, August 15, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm ET.
Gene Sperling, senior advisor to President Biden and the White House’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) Coordinator, provided updates on the administration’s efforts to increase housing supply and prevent evictions. To build on the success of ARP’s ERA program, the White House hosted the White House Eviction Prevention Summit on August 2 to share the program’s historic successes at the national, state, and local levels. Gene praised the ongoing dialogue between NLIHC’s partners and the administration, explaining that the process was truly an instance of implementation from the bottom up. Gene also said that while challenges lie ahead, it is important to recognize what has been accomplished over the last year. The summit celebrated some of the innovations developed during ERA implementation, including statewide reforms, new tenant services, and strengthened legal defense options for tenants. Diane spoke at the Summit, recognizing both the importance of the eviction prevention investments that allowed thousands of low-income renters to stay housed during the pandemic and the urgent need for eviction system reform (see this week’s Memo article on the summit).View a recording of the summit here.
Emma Foley, NLIHC research analyst, discussed the key findings of NLIHC’s Out of Reach 2022: The High Cost of Housing. This report documents the significant gap between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing across the United States. Renters with the lowest incomes face the greatest challenge in finding affordable housing. The average minimum-wage worker must work nearly 96 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom rental home or 79 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom rental home at the average fair market rent (FMR). In no state can a person working full-time at the prevailing federal, state, or county minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at the FMR. Since the report provides county- and metropolitan-level data, state and local partners can use it to highlight the issues most prevalent in their communities. Advocates will find interactive maps, comparisons between wages and housing prices, tenant interviews, and racial disparity analyses in the report, which is accessible here.
Pierce Greenberg, assistant professor of sociology at Creighton University, shared results from a recent study of disparities in ERA funding distribution in Omaha, Nebraska. By comparing the difference between predicted ERA and actual ERA, Pierce found that historically Hispanic neighborhoods did not receive needed ERA funds. The researchers blame the gap in assistance on citizenship requirements and language barriers. In response to the research, non-profit partners and community leaders have begun conversations about how to address some of these barriers. You can find the report here.
Pete Harrison of DesegregateCT shared the organization’s efforts to address a lack of housing and the scarcity of affordable housing in Connecticut by reforming land use regulations to be more inclusive of different types of zoning, such as by increasing land available for multi-family homes. DesegregateCT is the first advocacy group in the nation to map state and local zoning regulations and is helping other states build zoning atlases themselves.
Amy Riegel of the Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) and Carlie Boos of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio (AHACO) shared a technical guide to Ohio’s “Pay to Stay” law, which allows an eviction to begin immediately after a default. The resource aims to provide a user-friendly guide to help non-lawyers understand the law and to create a collaborative environment for the state to explore eviction-reduction tools. Find the “Pay to Stay Guide” here.
Lastly, Alayna Calabro, NLIHC policy analyst, provided an update on Treasury’s new State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) guidance. The changes expand presumptively eligible uses of and increase the flexibility for SLFRF, enabling funds to be used for long-term affordable housing loans. Treasury also released guidance on the use of ERA2 funds for affordable rental housing, eviction prevention, and housing stability services after October 1, 2022. See NLIHC’s SLFRF webpage for more information here.
Watch a recording of the August 2 call at: tinyurl.com/ye2acbdx
View presentation slides from the August 2 call at: tinyurl.com/4a52aze5