Philadelphia’s Affordable Housing Strategy Depends On Repairing Existing Homes

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Philadelphia’s Affordable Housing Strategy Depends On Repairing Existing Homes


Nov 7, 2020

By Michaelle Bond

Read More: https://fusion.inquirer.com/real-est...-20201107.html

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Philadelphia’s housing stock is old and can be expensive to maintain, challenges in a city with a 23% poverty rate, incomes that aren’t keeping pace with rising home prices, and now a pandemic-induced recession. Philadelphia and other cities across the country have been struggling to address a lack of housing that their residents can afford. Every home that becomes uninhabitable and abandoned or crumbles due to disrepair is one fewer home available to mitigate the affordable housing crisis.

- Two years ago, the city’s 10-year housing plan identified revitalizing existing housing stock as one of Philadelphia’s greatest challenges. But it’s also one of its biggest opportunities. City officials and housing advocates repeat a common sentiment: The most affordable house for residents is usually the one in which they already live because they don’t have to take on new debt or spend money relocating. So repairing existing homes is a key part of Philadelphia’s affordable housing strategy. — The city relies on nonprofits such as the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp., Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, and the volunteer program Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, and community development corporations to help homeowners with repairs. The Rental Improvement Fund, a pilot program the city and the Impact Loan Fund started in May, provides loans to small landlords to make repairs to improve the quality and affordability of rental housing.

- Cities should consider housing to be essential infrastructure in the same way as roads and bridges and devote funding to it accordingly, said Gregory Heller, senior vice president of community investment at PHDC and executive director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. — Jill Roberts, director of the Healthy Rowhouse Project, said that many times, grant and loan programs are the only way homeowners can afford repairs to make their homes safe and healthy, an even greater concern during the pandemic. Roberts, who manages PHDC’s home repair loan program for the financial counseling nonprofit Clarifi, remembers one homeowner whose front door didn’t close properly. Others have sewage in their basements or can’t use stairs for lack of railings. The pandemic has been “a blessing and a curse,” she said. Residents are paying more attention to necessary repairs because they’re spending more time in their homes.

- Homeowners with credit scores above 580 and who meet other criteria can get loans up to $24,999 and pay 3% interest. The program includes financial counseling, home assessments, and guidance throughout the renovations. It assists people who earn a little too much money to qualify for grant programs but may not have savings or can’t afford the higher interest rates of typical loans. Many wouldn’t qualify for loans at all. In its first year, the program had a 53% loan approval rate, compared with a 25% approval rate in the private market, according to the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. The program distributed more than $1.6 million in loans in its first year. — Through the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp.’s Basic System Repair Program, income-eligible homeowners can get repairs such as plumbing, electrical, structural, and roof work for free.

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