Statistics and survey responses made clear that affordable housing is Lawrence’s most pressing need in order to alleviate and prevent homelessness, consultants told the city commission on Tuesday.
The city has been allocated about $1.64 million in federal HOME-ARP funds,1 but it must provide a plan for how it’s going to spend those dollars by March 31.
Consultants received survey responses from 918 Lawrence and Douglas County residents. Of those responses, 38.5% identified construction of new affordable rental housing units as their highest priority for the HOME-ARP funds.
The consultants also found that less than 4% of the more than 26,000 rental units in Douglas County are affordable to households with incomes of 30% or less of the area median income (AMI). Only 21% of rental units are affordable for people whose incomes are up to 50% of the AMI, or $33,100 annually for a household of one, Baron Bell, of Community Development Experts, told the commission.
Under the draft plan commissioners heard about Tuesday night, the city would use about $1.4 million of that total toward development of affordable rental housing, estimating that between 19 and 38 units will be created. The units will target people whose incomes are 50% or less of the AMI.
“The City believes this funding will have the greatest impact in addressing this priority need by utilizing the funding to subsidize between 20% and 40% of development costs for new units,” according to the draft plan.
The city will prioritize households with children, single women, and chronically homeless individuals and families, according to the draft. It will also set aside units for people who are fleeing domestic violence or stalking.
Other potential ways to spend the funds included supportive services, acquiring and developing non-congregate shelters, tenant-based rental assistance and more. But consultants recommended putting 85% of the money into developing affordable rental housing.
The remaining 15% of the funds — about $246,200 — will go toward administrative and planning costs, according to the draft. The Lawrence City Commission on Oct. 18, 2022, approved contracting with Virchow, Krause & Company LLP for $70,000, which will be paid out of that remainder.
The commission did not have to take any action on the draft plan Tuesday. The plan will return for the commission’s final approval on the Tuesday, March 14 meeting agenda.
The draft plan also highlighted some general housing and income statistics for the Lawrence area, which show that homeownership is not financially feasible for a majority of Douglas County residents.
Being cost burdened is defined as spending 30% or more of household income on housing. About 40% of renters are spending more than 35% of their household incomes on rent, according to the draft.
A study by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies calculated the average mortgage payment for a home in Lawrence at $1,476 per month as of April 2022.
“The annual income needed to afford housing was estimated at $78,511. Yet, according to the 2017-2021 5-year estimate of the ACS, 28,273 households in Douglas County, a figure of 57.3%, had annual incomes below the $78,511 necessary to purchase a home,” the draft plan states. “… Furthermore, the median income for Douglas County was calculated at $65,594, which was $15,917 below the annual income of $78,511 estimated as necessary to afford a home.”
Monthly home payments for owners of typical Douglas County homes increased nearly $500 from the third quarter of 2021 through the third quarter of 2022, according to National Association of Realtors data cited in the draft plan.
“The monthly mortgage payment for the third quarter was calculated at $1,390,” according to the draft. “This is in comparison to the monthly mortgage payment for the third quarter of 2021 which was calculated at $900 a month.”
See the full draft below:
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage of housing and homelessness:
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- HOME Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program; https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/home-arp/
