Detroit Is Set to Lose 10,000 Affordable Housing Units. Here’s the City’s Response.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s is focusing on making housing affordable and that long time residents aren’t displaced.

“They deserve quality housing, they deserve to feel safe and secure in that housing and so this effort is meant to make sure that happens for them.” – Julie Schneider, City of Detroit

That’s as Detroit faces the possibility of losing thousands of affordable housing units because of expiring low-income tax credits. The city announced yesterday that it’s partnering with six organizations to preserve and expand affordable housing in the city. The goal is to make sure there are 10,000 affordable housing units in the city by 2023.

On Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson, the programs leaders address its feasibility and plans to achieve affordable housing.

Listen: Detroit, Enterprise Community Partners talk the city’s affordable housing initiatives.

Guests

Julie Schneider is Deputy Director of the City of Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department.

“In the city, there are approximately 22,000 existing affordable housing units and about 10,000 of which are currently nearing expiration. As we look to build and create more affordable housing, we can’t be losing our existing affordable housing in the meantime. We need net more not net the same,” says Schneider.

She adds that Detroit residents deserve to continue living in affordable housing units.

Henderson asks what happens when low income tax housing credits expire and Schneider explains that it could lead to a conversion of those spaces to market rate housing, and “rents would increase rapidly, especially if they are in an area where rents are rising.”

There will be efforts to work directly with residents to make sure their voices are heard. 

Melinda Clemons is the Vice President and Detroit Market Leader with Enterprise Community Partners.

She says only “about one in four people nationwide and in Detroit who qualify for affordable housing are actually able to secure affordable housing.”

She defines affordable housing as payments that are 30% of your income or less, and so while we have a number of units that qualify for that, we have much more demand than we have inventory for those units. Clemons says her organization has a dashboard “which helps you plan on the outcomes you want in an area of Detroit, but also you can overlay census tracks to see how a neighborhood compares to others.”

She says she wants positive outcomes in high opportunity areas but also wants to make sure that people who live in those areas historically are able to take advantage of that.