Affordable Housing Month 2023

The month of May is Affordable Housing Month. Rural Resurrection continues to look at ways to help communities to provide safe, decent, affordable housing.

Whereas rural America used to have an abundance of affordable housing, that is no longer one of the assets rural communities have anymore. Although population growth in rural areas has slowed, new construction (especially of affordable units) has come to a near halt in many communities. That’s why affordable housing month is increasingly important in rural communities throughout the United States.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Fewer homes are being built per household than almost any other time in US history, and it is even worse in rural areas.” Hence, in many rural communities, stagnant economic growth is not an issue of lack of jobs, but a lack of housing for the workers.

Past Posts on Housing Affordability

Inmates Helping to Meet Affordable Housing Demand

The Newton Correctional Facility in Newton, Iowa, is helping out in its own way. They are participating in a new program called Homes for Iowa. Administered by Iowa’s Prison Industries, Homes for Iowa is working to help the affordable housing issue in their own way.

Under the program, inmates are paid $1 an hour to help build affordable homes. The low wage paid to inmates lowers the overhead costs of producing housing. The houses constructed are then sold at an affordable price.

Know Your Housing Market and its Advantages

Author, Speaker, Strong Towns creator Charles Marhon pnce wrote a post entitled: “Buying a house? Here’s why you should consider a small town.” He dives into the numbers of the current housing market and how we are in the midst of another “housing bubble”. Marohn provides a convincing numerical argument as to why people should buy rural.

This Strong Towns article is a good analysis as to why purchasing a house in a rural community makes monetary sense. You should know these numbers yourself. But not just the numbers in Marohn’s article. It’s more important to know the numbers in relation to your own community.

Funding is Available

The National Housing Conference has a page on its website specifically dedicated to federal rural housing programs. It is mainly a set of links to USDA Rural Development programs, but it is a good list that includes rental and homeownership programs.

Don’t Stop

Housing affordability is always been an issue, but it will only get worse without significant, regular attention and proactive actions. Use Housing Affordability Month to draw attention to the issue and start the conversation.