Last year I briefly discussed five plans every community should have. One of those was Housing Studies or Housing Needs Assessments.

Housing is a hot topic right now as the housing shortages that once mainly plagued inner cities are impacting rural America. Some are even referring to the issue as an “epidemic“.

Regardless of the level of need for housing in your community, having a housing needs assessment is important. There is always room for improvement in your community’s housing stock. Knowing the specific areas where your community’s housing is insufficient and having strategies to address those problem areas is key.

Housing Needs Assessments review current supply and demand to gather a cohesive picture of the housing market. They typically project future rental, for-sale, emergency, and service-enhanced housing needs. These plans also look into financial considerations including the need for subsidized housing.

The Five A’s of Housing Analysis

Most housing needs assessments address the five A’s of on housing analysis in one way or another. This is the basis for the entire analysis. These five A’s are:

Availability

The vacancy rate of the different housing types is a fundamental measure of housing need in a community. But this analysis cannot stop at market rate, rental, or owner-occupied housing vacancy rates. It needs to break down the availability by housing size, type (single-family, condo, etc.), and role (senior, etc.).

Adequacy

Adequacy looks into the condition of the entire housing stock. But a review of this area is not complete without a review of the vacant housing stock. If your vacancy rate is good, but the condition of the units that are vacant is in poor condition, then the actual vacancy rate is truly much lower and larger issues abound.

Appropriateness

Is there a lack of accessible housing? Does the average unit size meet the needs of the average household size?

Affordability

The typical analysis of affordability is a measure of housing costs (rent/mortgage, utilities, etc.) against household income, expressed as a ratio or percentage of the household’s income.

Amenities

The available amenities in an area are often overlooked in many housing needs assessments. But it is important to look at access to schools, parks, and shopping. A neighborhood may have a high vacancy rate, but a lack of amenities in this area may be an indicator of issues, rather than a healthy housing stock.

Additional Reading

This post may not be as convincing as being able to read the real thing. Provided below are links to housing needs assessments conducted for communities in the Midwest. Reading through a few of these, one can see how such a study can be beneficial to their own community.

• City of Stuart, IA – Housing Needs Assessment
• City of Vinton, IA – Comprehensive Housing Needs Analysis
• Town of Davidson, NC – Housing Needs Assessment
• City of Monmouth, IL – Housing Study and Needs Assessment
• Wells County, IN – Housing Assessment and Growth Study

Write Your Own?

Most housing needs assessments are written by consultants that are trained planners with years of experience in writing such plans. They can typically spot issues with a community’s housing stock mainly due to their experience with seeing the same summary statistics of other communities.

However, there are a number of communities that do not have the financial wherewithal to pay a consultant to do such a study. Some states do have funding streams to help pay for at least a portion of the study. But for those who cannot obtain such grants, the possibility of writing your own housing needs assessment is viable.

For those communities that want to venture out on their own to conduct such a study the State of Minnesota has provided some help:

Conducting a Housing Needs Assessment for Your Community: A Manual Provided by the Minnesota Housing Partnership

There is even a model template so your community doesn’t have to start from scratch in creating the document:

Guide and Data Template for Preparing a Housing Needs and Demand Assessment

The American Planning Association has additional resources for those who want to dive deeper into the subject.

It’s Possible

Regardless of if you hire a consultant or conduct the study yourself, the resources are out there. Even if you hire a consultant to write it, the best course of action is to do your own research first so that you can accurately analyze the study and make good use of the resulting document once it’s approved.

Creating a housing needs assessment for your community is possible. Your community just needs to put in the effort to complete one. They are worth it.