May 5, 2005
In this issue:
In Delaware
* $8 Million More for the HDF!
* Joint Finance Committee
* Action Steps for Housing
* Five-Year Plan Endorsers
$8 Million More
for the HDF!
An additional $8 million would have to be committed to the Housing
Development Fund for the next year to keep pace with the Five-Year Strategic
Housing Plan. Here are 8 reasons why it should.
1. It yields an unparalleled return on investment.
Few, if any, investments make better economic sense. $1 invested in housing
yields $7 in economic activity. An investment of $60 million over five years
would result in over $420 million in economic activity and almost 4,000 new
full-time jobs (Investing to Meet Delaware’s Affordable Housing Needs,
2004).
2. The $3.4 million is spoken for.
The Governor’s proposed budget is nowhere near
where it needs to be if Delaware is to make housing a priority. Most of the
$3.4 million will be needed to insure Delaware can take full advantage of
federal tax credits for rental units.
For tax credit projects approved by the Council on Housing
in fiscal years 2002, 2003 and 2004, a median of $24,472 of HDF investment
was needed per tax credit unit. At the median per unit investment, $3.4
million produces only 139 units.
3. Homeownership is getting out of reach.
Increasing numbers of qualified families in all
three counties can not find decent homes which they can afford. In recent
years, median home prices in Delaware have risen significantly.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, the median home price in
New Castle County was $199,000; in Kent County, $165,000, and in Sussex
County, $250,000 (Delaware Real Estate Data, http://www2.state.de.us/dsha).
4. Delaware's racial disparity in homeownership
rates is closing too slowly.
The homeownership rate for African American’s is
51% and for Hispanics 42% in Delaware. The overall homeownership rate is
72%. If this gap were overcome, 10,886 more African American and 2,841
Hispanic families would own homes. At an average home equity of $10,000,
this represents over $137 million dollars in lost wealth.
5. Rent burdens are increasing.
Thousands of Delawareans are rent-burdened,
putting more of their incomes than they can afford into their housing costs.
Over 18,000 households in Delaware have annual incomes of less than $20,000
and pay more than 30% of their income in rent (2003-2007 Housing Needs
Assessment). A person in Delaware must earn $14.16 an hour, more than twice
the minimum wage, to afford the fair market rent for a modest two-bedroom
apartment (Out of Reach 2004, National Low Income Housing Coalition).
6. The federal partnership is diminishing.
HUD and Rural Home programs have continued to be
pared back with even the centerpiece programs like Section 8 vouchers that
serve the extremely poor suffering repeated cuts. Longstanding successful
programs like Community Development Block Grants are also on the chopping
block. States can no longer rely on federal assistance to meet their housing
needs.
7. Diverse housing is needed for diverse housing needs.
Many different types of housing are necessary in order to have adequate
housing opportunities for all of us according to our situations and needs.
Without help, the market will simply never provide transitional housing
units, group homes for the disabled, emergency shelter, or extremely
low-cost housing for seniors. Adequate, flexible funding from the HDF is
critical.
8. Millions in private capital available for
homeownership is going unused.
Banks have committed capital to invest in affordable mortgages for eligible
families but have been unable to deploy millions of committed capital due to
the lack of affordable housing units throughout the state. Economic impact
opportunities to lever private capital are being missed daily because
families of modest incomes cannot find homes affordable to them.
Joint Finance Committee
The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) of the Delaware General Assembly will
be be making final budget recommendations during the next few days. The
members of that committee are:
- Senate
Nancy Cook (Co-Chair)
Steven Amick
Margaret Rose Henry
David McBride
James Vaughn
- House
Joe Di Pinto (Co-Chair)
Gerald Buckworth
Tina Fallon
Peter Schwartzkopf
Stephanie Ulbrich
Dennis Williams
Action Steps for Housing
- Call Your Representative and Senator in support of an
additional $8 million in the HDF this year.
- Call Members of the JFC to request this critical
investment in affordable housing.
- Endorse the Five-Year Plan
The Five-Year Strategic Housing Plan Endorsers
There are now over 50 endorsers of the Five-Year
Strategic Housing Plan.
Your group can become an endorser by going to the link on
the DHC website and downloading and filling out the
endorsement form.
Endorsers to date:
Appoquinimink Development, Inc.
Arbor Management, LLC
The ARC of Delaware
Better Homes of Seaford, Inc.
Brandywine Counseling, Inc.
Cape Henlopen House
Casa San Francisco
Church Women United in Dover
Cornell Management Corporation
Delaware Community Investment Corporation
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council
Delaware HIV Consortium
Delaware Housing Coalition
Delaware Rural Housing Consortium
Delaware NAHRO
Delmarva Rural Ministries, Inc.
City of Dover
First State Community Action Agency, Inc.
First State Manufactured Housing Association
First State Resource Conservation & Development Council
Gilman Development Company
Governor’s Advisory Council on Exceptional Citizens
Hockessin Community Center
Homebuilders Association of Delaware
Housing Opportunities of Northern Delaware
Ingleside Homes, Inc.
Inter Faith Mission of Sussex County
Interfaith Housing Delaware
Robert Kaplan, AGM Financial Services
Latin American Community Center Development Corp.
League of Women Voters of Greater Dover
Lutheran Community Services of Delaware
Lutheran Office on Public Policy, Delaware
Mary Mother of Hope House I
Milford Housing Development Corporation
Millsboro Housing for Progress, Inc.
NCALL Research, Inc.
Neighborhood House, Inc.
Provest Realty Associates, Inc.
Roger P. Pryor and Associates, Inc.
Rebuilding Together Wilmington
Sister Mary Sheehan, IHM, Marydale Catholic Ministry
St. Helena's "Journey to Justice"
S.T.E.H.M., Inc.
State Council for People with Disabilities
Sussex Community Crisis Housing Services
The Salvation Army
Jane C. W. Vincent, Real Estate Strategies, Inc.
Leon N. Weiner & Associates, Inc.
West End Neighborhood House
City of Wilmington Department of RE and Housing
Wilmington Housing Partnership
YWCA of New Castle County