Housing Discrimination

Many aspects of internal housing conditions are known to affect health. Limited but important evidence also exists on the health implications of the socio-spatial context of housing.

For instance, fear of crime, crowding, neighborhood disadvantage, social exclusion, and residents’ social exchange are linked to cardiovascular and mental health, obesity, diabetes and low birth weight. In my dissertation work and related projects, I ask questions about the spatial context of neighborhood effects to investigate how the urban geography of inequality and cumulative spatial disadvantage shape the health and well-being of the inner-city poor.

Several important questions about the neighborhood and spatial context aspect of housing remain critical to ask in our quest to understand and act on the constellation of factors shaping health outcomes: a) How do different spatially salient markers (such as nearby presence of crime hotspots; community health centers; daycare) interact with the neighborhood context in shaping health outcomes, employment, and health care. f) To what extent moving low income families to high quality neighborhoods increases or decreases their access to health related resources and critical social networks and jobs?

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In,theory, the American housing market is free and open. The report found that high-interest loans, many of which are illegal, are three times more likely in low- income neighborhoods than in high-income areas, and five times more likely in black neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods.

HUD further noted that homeowners in high-income black neighborhoods are six times as likely as homeowners in upper-income white neighborhoods, and twice as likely as homeowners in low-income white neighborhoods, to have high- interest loans. Another study found that black homeowners receive less value for their homes than white homeowners. The study, which compared home values to homeowner incomes for owners of different ethnic and racial groups in the nation's 100 largest cities in 1990, found that, equalizing for income, black homeowners received 18 percent less value for their homes than white homeowners; white homeowners owned $2. 4 worth of house for every dollar of income, while black homeowners owned only $2. 16 worth of house. The study further revealed that the 18 percent gap imposed on black homeowners - the so-called segregation tax - primarily results from a high degree of racial segregation in neighborhoods. Working poor face shortage of affordable housing November 10, 1996 Consider Sam Brown of San Francisco, who pays more than two thirds of his monthly income to keep his family in housing.

Housing officials estimate more than five million families are in dire straits when it comes to paying for a place to live. The affordable housing shortage has worsened as officials have torn down high rise tenements, characterizing them as warehouses for the poor. Some housing assistance programs have helped to ease the stress.

Today in America more than 3 million moderate income families have a critical housing need despite working the equivalent of a full-time job," said Michael Stegman, one of the authors of the study, "Housing America's Working Families. "The report was commissioned by the Center for Housing Policy, a subsidiary of the National Housing Conference, which is a consortium of some 700 home builders and home lenders from across the country.

Affordable Housing Finance

June 2012 What you need to know about three key changes that could have a big impact on the preservation of existing affordable housing By Donna Kimura And Christine Serlin Three key changes are poised to make a big impact on the preservation of existing affordable housing developments. These new moves two new programs and one policy change arrive at time when the affordable housing stock is shrinking. This amounts to nearly 60 percent of units with federal project-based rental assistance.

Approximately 50,000 units are assisted under these programs, including about 25,000 units under the Mod Rehab program. Under the legislation, a demonstration program has been created that allows certain public housing and Sec. 8 Moderate Rehab properties to voluntarily convert to a long-term Sec. 8 rental assistance as a means of preserving these units. They could convert to either a project-based rental assistance contract administered by HUD and be eligible for renewal under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act or a project-based contract with a local public housing authority.

As many as 60,000 units of public housing and Sec. 8 Mod Rehab housing may be converted under a competitive selection process. FHA Pilot Program Centerline Capital Group provided about $2 million in low-income housing tax credit equity. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has recently launched a pilot program that aims to speed up the processing time for FHA-backed deals that use low income housing tax credits (LIHTCs).

Nonprofit Sales Proceeds

During the 1960s and 1970s, HUD worked with nonprofits to finance thousands of properties under its mortgage insurance programs, including Sec. 21(d)(3), Sec. 231, and Sec. 236 of the National Housing Act. HUD reports that nonprofits own 39 percent of all Sec. 236 and 221(d) (3) properties with maturing mortgages. More than 700 of these properties have mortgages that will mature within the next 10 years, representing roughly 80,000 affordable housing units, including 42,000 with project-based rental assistance. Historically, there have been restrictions on nonprofit owners receiving proceeds from the sale of FHA-insured properties.

Growth through Low Income Housing Published on: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Written by: Trista Winnie Low income housing makes housing more accessible for many families There is a common misconception that low income housing today is of the same quality as the low income housing projects of the past. This misconception is a hurdle that low income housing developers and advocates have to work hard to overcome.

Often, community members try to prevent low income housing from coming to their area, assuming that the stereotype that low income housing equals low quality housing is true. Low income residents have their own fears about property values. When planning a low income housing development within a community, "all kinds of fears come out," Greer said. Mixed use projects, incorporating low income housing and retail, are gaining popularity Another way in which developers are gaining acceptance is through production of mixed income developments, rather than strictly low income developments. Affordable housing is a problem for every community because the cost of housing and the sale prices of houses are going up faster than incomes. " Low income housing developments that seek to be eligible for tax credits are required to be set aside as low income housing for a minimum of 30 years, according to the Danter Company. Financing is also available for other types of low income housing through programs such as tax credit allocations, partnerships, low interest loans, grants and donations. For more on the Hope VI program and other sources of low income housing financing, see our article on Financing Low Income Housing Projects. ) The rehabbing of rundown low income housing projects is just one avenue through which developers can be involved in low income housing, but it should serve as an overall notice for all investors that the low income housing industry is not a glamorous one. Communities and sources of funding both favor those who are experienced in low income housing. Competition for low-income housing funds is fierce. http://www. uwireinvestor. com/articles/low-income-housing-51313. aspx Housing discrimination "widespread" among disabled, immigrants, minorities, others May 07, 2012|Yvonne Wenger A survey of 549 community-based organizations suggests that housing discrimination is on the rise, particularly targeting disabled individuals, immigrants, minorities and families with children, according to the nonprofit Consumer Action. “Housing discrimination is all too alive and well in the United States today,” Ken McEldowney, executive director, Consumer Action, said in a statement.

Between 1970 and 2000, both distressed and non-distressed metropolitan areas with rapidly growing income inequality experienced rapidly growing residential segregation by income. In distressed metropolitan areas between 1970 and 2000, rising income segregation was associated with excess housing construction. In non-distressed metropolitan areas, there was no relationship between income segregation and excess housing construction. Rising income inequality and neighborhood income segregation accounted for 16 to 50 percent of new construction in distressed metropolitan areas between 1970 and 2000.

Income inequality has grown substantially Distribution of Income in California (1996). Of California’s income distribution suggests that there income distribution. Better-quality housing, enter the lower-quality market, and the resulting higher rents suggest very low incomes can no longer afford housing and are forced that affect homelessness associated with greater homelessness. The links between income inequality and homelessness, income in a number of locations higher and incomes move lower), the greater the incidence of homelessness response to changes in income distribution.

Decrease the average income of households in the lowest fifth increases in the homeless population. Policy Interventions which policy interventions in the housing market can lower homelessness rates one trend in federal programs built housing rates on lower-quality housing to encourage landlords to of income (currently 30 percent) in units available on the study uses simulation models to explore how homelessness under Section 8) to all low-income households, targeted “barely-standard” housing, and a general maintenance subsidy the landlord programs maintenance program.

The demand for and price of the lowest-quality housing, forcing out the lowest-income renters responses identified above would go to low-income households to make low-quality housing more affordable and thereby, Section 8 program and by compensating local governments very low end of the housing stock.

Property’s location determinants of house prices can alter the level and dispersion of household wealth connection between crime and house prices. Document the relationship between crime and house prices. Distributional consequences of removing the public bad of crime; that is, the removal of crime the degree of overall inequality among property values. Crime rate a dynamic model of property valuation. Our empirical work will show that decreasing crime does, in fact, benefit lower valued properties disproportionately, reducing the inequality among properties.

House prices for the city of Rio de Janeiro since 2008. Both homicides and robberies coefficient measures the level of inequality of house prices across Rio’s neighborhoods. It objective of crime reduction residential property prices in Rio’s formal housing market, as well as on homicide and robbery rates in each of Rio’s neighborhoods, we formally test the hypotheses that Neighborhoods closer to a UPP station experienced larger than average decreases in crime and larger than average increases in house prices after the UPP was put into place.

Prices increased by an average of 5-10 percent, homicides decreased by an average of 10-25 results to construct counterfactual price and crime rates and, with those, city-wide statistics. We note that since we do not observe house prices skyrocketing residential property prices in the formal housing markets surrounding the favelas. Having established that the UPPs influenced crime and house prices in opposite directions house prices. Returns to crime reduction; this implies that properties with either high initial crime rates or current property values.

This treatment of the dynamic transmission of crime rates into house prices is quite duration of crime rates in the past; lower initial crime rates with low historical duration gives rise to the biggest increases in price when the crime rate declines. Implementation of the UPP policy counterfactual house prices described above shows that the disparity in house prices across Dispersion in property prices within those neighborhoods narrowed, suggesting that even change in the crime rate.

Works identifying the impact of crime and violence on property prices, with the paper by exploit both spatial and temporal variation in crime data to identify the effect on house prices, persistence of historical crime rates. The present study uses more disaggregate price data, at on the implications of crime for the dispersion of house prices. First draw connection between crime reduction and wealth inequality. Our empirical measurement of the crime elasticity of house prices is connected to a crime rate as exogenous, which ay have biased the elasticity estimates if, for example, crime occurs disproportionately in poorer neighborhoods with low property values or, conversely, if criminals target areas with higher-priced homes. (2009) found 12 instances in of a set of 18 empirical studies relating house prices and crime variation around an exogenous policy experiment, the UPPs in Rio to historical crime rates or the levels of property prices is a reasonable instrument for the effect of crime.

Housing and inequalities in health Professor Hoyden-Chapman The existence of debilitating inequalities in health across social groups has become the first law of public health. People privileged by more education, income, the dominant ethnicity, higher status jobs, and housing standards, have better health than those with less education and income, minority ethnicity, lower status jobs, and poorer housing. Focusing on housing and neighborhood improvements have historically been key policy instruments to improve population health.

Housing tenure has been associated with health in a number of studies—those who rent their houses appear to have poorer health than those who own their houses even after controlling for age, gender, and education. 5Housing for most households is their largest monthly expenditure and housing costs in the survey were related to health. The psychosocial aspects of housing such as pride in a house and neighborhood showed an association with health status only before controlling for other variables.

Several multilevel studies have shown that some neighborhoods are indeed bad for people's health. 6Surveys to explore new associations and intervention studies to test causal links between housing and health are important. The social and economic aspects of housing, and the lack of it, continue to play an important part in generating inequalities in health.

By Bendix Anderson

Affordable Housing Finance

April 2008 Thanks to these energy savings, the reserve accounts of the 600 green affordable apartments in the portfolio of Homestead Capital are an average 36 percent larger than the rest of Homestead's affordable portfolio. The apartments were built to a variety of green standards. Early operating data from the green portfolio of Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. , shows energy savings of up to 40 percent, compared to properties built to the standards of local building codes.

Of course, the biggest energy savings are at projects built to the toughest green standards. Denny Park also meets the demanding standards set by Enterprise for its Green Communities investments. It cost Denny Park's owners, the Seattle-based Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), a total of $1,000 per apartment in utility expenses to operate Denny Park in 2007, from electricity to hot water to trash pickup. That's as much as $200 per apartment lower than the utility costs at LIHI's other affordable properties.

Conserving water green developers and investors also report steep savings on their water bills, which are 35 percent to 40 percent less on average than water costs at comparable properties, according to information from the portfolio of green properties in Enterprise's Green Communities Initiative. Denny Park racked up savings, with water and sewer costs of $188 per resident, compared to $235 and $322 per resident at LIHI's comparable properties. Saving water also helps keep the hot water heating costs down.

Denny Park's hot water bill was just $133 per apartment in 2007, roughly a quarter less than at LIHI's comparable properties. It cost $102 per apartment to haul trash away from Denny Park in 2007. Green projects have low turnover Tenants are also less likely to move out of green affordable housing properties, according to developers. Many residents appreciate the improved air quality at green building projects.

Last year, the General Assembly passed the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act, which encourages municipalities with less than 10 percent affordable housing to develop a plan to increase that percentage.

HUD also promised stricter enforcement of the so-called "Section 3" requirement, part of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. "HUD estimates the federal money could support 300 low-income jobs in the city. City housing officials could not immediately say how much of the federal housing money the city receives goes to fulfilling the Section 3 requirement.

By Brandt Williams Minnesota Public Radio September 17, 2002 For most Americans, the value of their home is their prime source of wealth. During the 1990s, a booming economy and buyer-friendly housing market helped many Minnesotans build thousands of dollars in home equity. They were able to buy at low prices and watch the value of their homes skyrocket. Goetz says home values remain lower in those neighborhoods than in predominantly white areas, where the demand for homes is higher. Census figures show the statewide median home value for African Americans is $106,000, which is slightly higher than for Hipics.

American Indians have the lowest statewide median home value, at $78,000. Asian American home values remain slightly higher than that of whites. In Hennepin County, home of the state's largest concentration of people of color, African American home values are the lowest at $103,000. Goetz says this gap in home values will feed future economic gaps between whites and people of color, because home equity is passed on from generation to generation. In 1990, white home values were 3 percent higher than those of Hipics and 6 percent higher than for African Americans. Environews Focus Dwelling Disparities: How Poor Housing Leads to Poor Health For most Americans, the value of their home is their prime source of wealth. During the 1990s, a booming economy and buyer-friendly housing market helped many Minnesotans build thousands of dollars in home equity. They were able to buy at low prices and watch the value of their homes skyrocket.

Goetz says home values remain lower in those neighborhoods than in predominantly white areas, where the demand for homes is higher. Census figures show the statewide median home value for African Americans is $106,000, which is slightly higher than for Hipics. American Indians have the lowest statewide median home value, at $78,000. Asian American home values remain slightly higher than that of whites. In Hennepin County, home of the state's largest concentration of people of color, African American home values are the lowest at $103,000.

Goetz says this gap in home values will feed future economic gaps between whites and people of color, because home equity is passed on from generation to generation. In 1990, white home values were 3 percent higher than those of Hipics and 6 percent higher than for African Americans. Disparities in Risk To a large extent, disparities in health and access to care among minorities reflect disparities in socioeconomic status. The fact that minority populations on average are poorer than whites underlies many health disparities.

Health insurance coverage and access to preventive care play a major role in determining health outcomes. Although insurance coverage improves access to health care, minority children have less access to primary medical care than white children, even after accounting for differences in insurance coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Report. Inadequate routine and preventive care increases a child’s incidence and burden of disease. Hospitalization for asthma generally is avoidable if the disease is well managed.

Poverty, substandard housing, inadequate access to health care, lack of education, and failure to adequately control asthma with medication all contribute to asthma episodes and deaths. Ethnic minorities also experience poorer cancer survival rates than whites. According to the American Cancer Society, cancer mortality rates are 40 percent higher for African-American men than white men. Efforts to eliminate health disparities are underway both nationally and locally. NIEHS and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have supported several urban asthma studies. Many states also have created offices addressing minority health.

The HHS OMH funds health projects conducted by minority community and national organizations, maintains minority health consultants in HHS Regional Offices, and operates a Resource Center on minority health issues. The National Institutes of Health also has a National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities to coordinate research, training, and outreach programs surrounding health disparities. Due to the strong link between socioeconomic status and health disparities, programs designed to improve the socioeconomic status of minorities also could help to reduce health disparities.

Focusing on properties that pose the greatest health risks, which are overwhelmingly older, low-income, and in substandard condition, will yield the greatest improvement in health outcomes and address the striking health disparities borne by low-income and minority families. Nearly 40 years after a national law banned housing discrimination, an increasing number of complaints are alleging unfair treatment of minorities, the disabled, families and other groups.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and housing assistance agencies logged 10,328 complaints last year, a 12% jump from 2005. Between 2002 and 2006, seven states and the District of Columbia averaged more than 10 housing discrimination complaints per 100,000 housing units, according to the GNS analysis. The average state rate was 7. 6 complaints per 100,000 units. The 1968 Fair Housing Act, amended in 1988, bans discrimination in the housing market based on disability, race, sex, national origin, religion, skin color or whether a family has children.

Reasons for the growing number of discrimination complaints vary, housing officials say. Agency's performance criticized Last year, 36% of the complaints to HUD were settled. Federal officials and fair housing advocates say it's difficult to know whether housing discrimination is on the rise in a particular area. Private housing groups also get complaints that aren't included in the data.

• In almost one third of counties, no housing discrimination complaints were filed with HUD or its contract agencies between 2002 and 2006.
• Housing discrimination complaints related to disability are as common as those related to race.

Nationally, disability-related cases accounted for 40% of complaints filed with HUD and its contract agencies last year. Race-related complaints accounted for 39%. Housing experts expect disability complaints to climb as the nation's population ages and older Americans better understand their housing rights. Last year, HUD dismissed 40% of complaints, citing lack of evidence. One reason may be that housing discrimination today can be subtler. HUD must investigate discrimination complaints within 100 days.

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