How Repairing and Modernizing Aging Homes Can Contribute to Housing Affordability

“The nation’s affordable housing crisis has gotten some semblance of attention — with journalists writing stories on the rising cost of rent, the scarce supply of new housing, the looming threat of eviction — but one aspect of the crisis has gone consistently overlooked,” writes Rachel M. Cohen. “On top of the severe housing shortage that currently exists, nearly 6 million homes nationwide have moderate to serious home health hazards.” These hazards will ultimately make the homes uninhabitable, Cohen warns. 

“Issues like lead paint, leaky roofs, and knob-and-tube wiring don’t just leave tenants and homeowners in substandard, unsafe housing. They also leave families — mostly poor families — shut out from energy efficiency programs the federal government already funds to upgrade homes.” According to Cohen, “nationally, according to a recently published E4TheFuture analysis, 10 to 30 percent of income-eligible clients are deferred from weatherization upgrades each year for health and safety problems, with those deferrals on the rise.” Cohen argues that “Addressing this problem could help solve both the affordable housing and the climate crisis at once.”

In Pennsylvania, state lawmakers are attempting to do just that with new legislation. “Introduced in March by Democratic state Sen. Nikil Saval, the Whole-Home Repairs Act would provide eligible residents with grants up to $50,000 to make needed home repairs, and small landlords could apply for the same amount in forgivable loans. The bill would also aim to ramp up investments in workforce development, to address the growing shortage of qualified workers able to address the repairs.” The bill could serve as a model for other states and the federal government, Cohen writes. “While the home repairs bill would not itself go toward making energy efficiency upgrades, it would position more homes to be able to access the WAP funds.”